The Day Morlock
by Pookyhorse
Summary: *sequel to Of Eloi and Morlocks* Billie, the half-Morlock, finds life treacherous in his home. The Morlocks can't stand him and the Eloi shun him. He must find a place in this vaste future world that he can fit in. Will he find friends? Or even more foes?
1. Chapter 1 Eloiorks

I'm really bored so I decided on a sequel from some discarded ideas I had from the first story. So until the Army gives me word on when I'm gonna join or not I will have my butt planted here typing and drawing haha.

**Chapter 1. Eloi-orks**

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The life of the Eloi had changed for those of Fere's dark colony. The Muumoo's supplied an ample amount of juicy meat for them all. They proved easy to raise as they had no instincts to flee from predators. Now the once fabled Eloi lived on the outskirts of the tree lines like feral mustangs, free to roam wherever they desired.

There were several setbacks in any case. Many of the Eloi could not care for themselves as such necessities were bred out of them. They wandered like bony ghosts, not knowing how to feed themselves. The better of them got the hang of picking fruits from the bushes and trees. Fere, herself, would try and help out the best she could by sneaking piles of fruits around the bottoms of the trees at night when none other of her kind noticed.

Katie herself lived among the little people, spending her days basking in the sun's light and letting the breeze curl itself around her light hair. She did as much as she could to help feed the others as well.

Shandow was a constant follower, never leaving her side. He was learning how to care for himself from her teachings. He was a very slow learner but progress was being made. One thing he learned very well was how to weave those flower necklaces all the others of his kind would often make to toss around each other.

It had only been a few months since the great migration to this land. The land around them was quiet as the Morlocks were underground, snoozing away the daytime. Katie folded her legs under her and collapsed on the plush grass to rest herself. The Eloi naturally followed each other like herds of deer. There were several types of Eloi among them now. Each from their master's own separate breeding and some that bred naturally from Mother Nature's own molding.

Some had long, lanky legs that made them terrific sprinters. They were much more wild and flighty then Shandow was. They were obviously Eloi that were bred feral. Most were Eloi of the dark colony and of the White Sphinx.

The White Sphinx Eloi held their own ground. They acted differently from the rest of their brethren as her father had taught them. Katie always did her best to stay away from this group. It was a harsh lesson she learned from the past.

Shandow grabbed her around the waist and brought her close to him. She nuzzled his face and returned his love with kisses. His breath was sweet and his eyes sleepy. The other Eloi around them decided to join in the fun and danced around the pair with arms locked. The air was filled with their lovely music once more.

Katie added her own voice to the song, feeling her spirits lift. Shandow was never the type that sung too often. He only smiled and watched her with eyes locked on her slender body.

"Prambee!" One Eloi called out, the others followed in unison like sheep. Katie nodded and searched for a tree. She had become a shepherd to them in some ways.

Up top a high branch she pulled some large cherry-like fruits from their twigs and dropped them to Eloi who knew how to catch. The fruit was passed around and the group soon settled down to fill their bellies. Shandow himself had climbed a branch and sat there waiting for her to come down.

"You would have to go higher if you want fruit." She smiled at him. "It makes me happy to see you learning."

Shandow nodded, proud of his mate's praise. The children Eloi would gather around one single fruit and pick from it while the adults feasted on one themselves. Katie was hoping to have some children with Shandow someday. She had mated with Shandow her first time three months before and nothing had come from it. Getting pregnant around here seemed like a task. Of course being a hybrid had its price.

Shandow shared a fruit with his lover. Afterwards he romped around with her in the grass again. He nipped her ears and pinched her rear. Katie grabbed his hands and rolled him over on the ground and laid herself on top of him. They both had a giggle fit as Shandow gave her this serious face he had picked up from her father. On George it was something to take notice of but on Shandow it was just downright silly.

"You crazy Shandow." She rolled on her back.

"Katie nuts." He chuckled.

"A new word eh?" She ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek.

The sun sunk beneath the mountains and the night of the Morlocks began again. The Eloi were still fearful and would always be. It would take many generations to undo the night fright.

The Morlocks came out to tussle on the grass. The children would sometimes try and play with the Eloi. Both of similar age would play their simple games. The Eloi children were typically slow but were catching on. Perhaps some future pairings here?

Shadow also came to visit Katie with their son. Billie always met her with tough arms around her neck. Shadow's mate stood close by, keeping her distance so she wouldn't disturb. Her own stomach was bulging out wide with their own child.

"I would be careful Katie." Shadow warned her as he watched the two play. "Some of your father's Eloi had come to this place. They are on the other side of the river and aren't too friendly."

Katie felt her heart jolt. If they were here that meant surely Tago was with them. This group of Eloi were certainly rogues that should be avoided at all costs.

"I will keep away from them as best as I can." Katie responded in a clear voice, trying hard not to show her fear.

"If you feel any danger come down to us. I will protect you. You know I will. Even though we are not mates we still have a part of each other." He smiled.

Katie kissed her son. He purred loudly with both fists clutching her hair. He never wanted to leave her.

"Not so loud that your mate hears." Katie reminded him with a sheepish grin.

"Well she knows we have a child." Shadow got up, his size dwarfed all the Eloi easily. They froze at the sight of him.

Sometimes Katie would keep Billie with her till the sun would come back up. Usually this was the time she would sleep. He would sleep extra hours just to be in her arms.

"Is daddy teaching you good things? No dirty words?" She teased him, pulling on his deformed toes. Billie giggled with his thumb in his mouth.

"He has a close friend now doesn't he?" Shadow grinned. "The other hybrid female. Perhaps someday they will be mates."

"Yeah he'll see when he grows up. All he wants now is somebody to pamper him." She tickled her son before letting him run off. Shandow always seemed like a great plaything to him. He would grab the Eloi's tunic and chew on it to Shandow's dismay. Eventually the small child would send him up the tree just to get away.

Shandow this time was prepared and sat dangling from the lowest branch with his eyes keen on the hybrid child.

"Oh you big silly, running away from kids." She called out.

"Hurt me." Shandow furrowed his brow and kept his distance.

Billie moved on to more easier game, giving a chance for his victim to rest at ease. He remembered Eloi children just being much more tolerable.

Later that night Katie and Shandow bid their goodbyes to their Morlock friends and settled under a berry bush for the night. The nights here were always warm all year round and the days were usually very hot as the sun was closer to the earth now.

Shandow snored quietly with his head propped on her back. Katie stared off at the leaves swaying back and forth in the nightly breeze. She would often recollect old memories of her childhood with her father and Shadow. One she recalled was when Shadow played a joke on the Eloi. He would lure the ones who followed inside the house and lock them up in the master's closet and bathroom. Later on her father would find his tub water running over and his cologne totally used up.

She giggled to herself. Shandow himself if he was around with them back then he would have surely been the butt of all Shadow's jokes. Her mate was very gullible.

Then her thoughts lingered to the White Sphinx Eloi. The warped minded Eloi who typically enjoyed walking over the weaker minded ones and being bossy. George himself was starting to have regrets of ever training them. Their aggression was like a hot horse they could not handle. The future must be a very shaky one to be had. Being optimistic, she longed for peace between all the Eloi groups.

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_17 years pass…_

The two figures stood side by side, looking down from the tall branches of a tree at the plump Muumoo's grazing away at the vine growth that covered the ground.

"I surely hope we don't bring down a cow." One of them spoke just a hair lower than what the animal's would twitch an ear at. "You remember the last time you killed one the calf came out and cried."

"Oh good grief Billie quit whining constantly." Favul punched his shoulder.

"Well you didn't look too happy yourself that's all I'm saying." His mouth sagged.

"You mean you are just too soft at heart." She grunted, staring down at her prey with flashing eyes.

"You know why I'm the way I am." Billie glanced at her with a dark promise in his eyes.

Favul looked away, back at the grazing animals and dropped to the ground. The last thing she wanted to do was get into another pointless argument about his mother.

"Okay than we will bring down a nice young bull okay?" She spoke softly.

"Okay." He nodded.

The Muumoo's had started to be acquainted with fear just as their long lost fleet-footed deer ancestors have before. They would start to lumber off if a Morlock came too close. Favul and Billie worked as a team. One drifted off towards the woods while the other would cut the chosen prey off from the herd. It was Billie's job to split the prey from the others. All these tactics were unnecessary as the Muumoo's were still very easy to catch but the half-breeds wanted to make a game out of it.

Favul waited in the brush as the Muumoo bull got closer and closer. Then she snapped her body out in full length like a hidden cat and grabbed the animal by the neck. She used her weight to roll it. Then with her spear she gave the death blow to the throat. Her teeth were too small for the job and her claws too fragile. She had many looks of the Eloi part of her blood. But in heart she was all Morlock. She enjoyed the hunts and obsessed over the blood spills of her prey. Billie on the other hand, even though he was the spitting image of his father, was more gentle like the Eloi. He would rather lay around and munch on the fruiting berries. To the outside eye he would seem like a Morlock with mental issues.

"I want to bring some home for my brothers and sisters." Favul tore a strip of flesh from the fresh carcass. "They were crying when I left."

"Your parents sure loves kids." He smiled, peeling a small piece from the shoulder.

"Yeah I wonder if mom and dad will ever stop." She giggled, her cheeks blushing. "The cave is barely big enough for us all. I might have to go live out on my own soon."

Billie grunted back in return and picked up the limp bull from the ground and heaved it over his shoulder. His legs buckled under the heavy animal's weight. It must have been a good one hundred and fifty pounds.

Down below the Morlocks went onto their work as usual. It was still too light for them to go above ground. In Favul's cave the children were bustling around with Muumoo skulls and bones as toys. Shikha was in the middle of them, tending to the youngest in her brood. She laid down the carcass in front of her siblings and watched them sprawl over it to pick out the softest pieces to chew on.

"A nice young Muumoo. Good job my dear." Shikha smiled, she had since lost some of her figure since her sixth child but she was still a lithe female.

Billie stood at the entrance. He never felt safe intruding on another family's home, being considered a bachelor now because of his age. It was only natural feelings. His own family were all Morlocks. His step mother was kind to him and treated him as one of her own but Katie was his real mother he always went to. He now had two half brothers, a half sister and his step mother's son from her previous mate.

The thought of his mother tugged his heart again. He hadn't seen her in long time because she refused to. Katie was refusing to see anybody. Not since Tago with his group attacked her small following of Eloi and killed Shandow. She gave in to Tago and now she wandered around without any spirit left in her in his premises. Shadow wanted to kill him but Tago had grown too smart and found ways to keep in hiding. Even his sugary scent would suddenly cut off as he had covered it so well.

Katie bore Tago three sons. Fortunately the evil Eloi male never further developed his fatherly instincts for his offspring and so the children split to opposite directions to live plain Eloi lives.

Lately Tago's age was beginning to show. Unlike their ancestors the Eloi didn't show much aging. He developed a few wrinkles beneath the eyes and grey hair sprouted but in all he looked the same. Only the stiffening in his joints prevented him from forcing himself on Katie any longer and she went solitary. The old male was going on seventy. The long life of the Morlocks and Eloi made it so they could live as long as the oldest human could today.

Katie stayed invisible in the treetops where the leaves grew their thickest. Shadow and her son would often call out to her, beckoning for her to come down to them. She turned a blind ear to them. The death of Shandow and her horrid life with Tago had done it in for her. She had all but disappeared inside. This troubled Billie so much he would spend many hours just sitting under the tree she occupied.

He didn't go today, knowing it was pointless. Instead he went to work alongside his father. There he had somebody to talk to. Shadow was very gentle with his son unlike the other Morlock fathers. They all told him that would only turn him soft and fragile if he didn't harden him up.

That just wasn't the case anymore. Shadow knew what ate up his son inside and only patience was needed. His son was old enough now to be courting. Billie didn't show any interest in anybody around him. He was the lowest in the pecking order of the young males. Being half-Morlock brought its toll on his temperament. He cowered in the presence of the full-bloods and avoided the bachelor crowds. If it even mattered, he didn't even try to earn a place for himself. He had that same dreaded dull look in his eyes as his Eloi relatives did.

The half-breeds earned their own name. They were referred to as Eloi-orks. To some of the younger generation they were considered disgraceful weaklings that needed a daily beating to show their place. Their blue eyes and pinkish skin made them the laughingstock of the colony.

Billie clenched his teeth as a passing male shoved him into the wall to give himself a wider berth to walk through.

"Oh father why did you have to mate with my mother for? Why not a female Morlock? Why do I have to be so different?" Billie cursed under his breath.

His father was taking a break by the water pool for a drink.

"How is my boy?" Shadow smiled, ruffling his hair. "How is the family?"

"Doing fine." Billie answered, he never bothered to check on the others. His father was worrying about his mate's pregnancy. She was close to being due. "I went hunting with Favul."

"How's your mother as well?" Shadow almost didn't ask.

"What else is new?" Billie answered in frustration. The answer was clear in his tone of voice. There were no changes between them.

The half-breed sauntered off back through the rocky passage towards home. He came upon a group of the bachelors that knew him all too well. He stopped and spun around to double back to find a much safer detour. His scent betrayed him before he even fully turned his back.

"Well look what the Eloi shat out." One laughed and yanked him back by his shoulder, digging his claws in.

"Leave me alone damn it. I'm bloody tired and just want to sleep." Billie squinted, feeling his blood drool down his chest.

"Oh come on you big pussy. You can pick a fight with me right? Show me what those tusks are for." The male grinned, showing off his to the crowd before him that he had already dominated himself. The other males nodded in approval and gathered around them. They all crouched down low with arms held low to the ground, breathing hoarsely.

"Piss off Brach. He's already submissive to you why turn it into something else?" Favul squeezed herself between the males, setting herself in a dangerous position.

"Oh how sad. The big tough guy needs a female to watch his back. Really your father must regret that he ever squirted you out." The male shoved Billie against the wall and held him there. The half-breed felt the moss against his sweaty back.

"Did you even listen to me? Do you want me to fight you?" Favul sandwiched herself between the two. The furious male's hot breath made her sweat. For once he actually looked at her.

"Move out of the way halfie." He snarled, his hair standing on end. It made him look ten times bigger then he really was. Billie felt himself shrink in his grasp.

"No I won't." Her eyes never left the bloodshot ones of the rival. He snorted and withdrew away from them. He did it in such a manner that showed he didn't really care to fight at the moment, pointless you might say.

"What a tough female. It's too bad her friend doesn't have such balls." He punched his chest and left with the crowd. The halflings could breath freely now.

"The only reason you are so brave is because you know they won't fight you." Billie's knees collapsed beneath him.

"Don't ridicule me. Now come on lets go to our hideout and enjoy a nice meal. I fixed it for us." Favul groaned at him. Billie did feel ashamed that it took a female to get Brach off his back. He didn't say anything about it, knowing it would only set her off.

"Sure." He hung his head and followed. At least his father wasn't here to watch his failure.


	2. Chapter 2 A New Conflict

**Chapter 2. A New Conflict

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Favul snuck out to be by herself one night. Among the Muumoo's she fell onto the grass and breathed in their earthly scents. The animals tilted their ears at her, curious on why this predator was not attacking. Some rested beneath the trees to rest and chew the cud. Their murmuring calls sounded the night air with gentle vibrations. The majority of the Morlocks were not feeding tonight so they were kept their distance elsewhere. Tonight the animals could rest.

The smell of a nearby Morlock prevented her from falling off into sleep. She could feel his eyes spying on her. The smell was very sharp, hinting its masculinity. He did not smell familiar.

"You don't hide too well." She spoke out finally, looking up the tree close to her resting spot. A pair of glowing eyes blinked back. He hung from the tree like a leopard.

"I was just resting here," He said in a very calm and bored tone. "You intruded on me."

"So you say. I don't recognize your scent. Are you from around here?" She asked.

"No. I deserted my colony for a better chance at life." He craned his neck. "My home was very overcrowded. Hardly a chance for even a tough male to earn his own cave. I heard of this place along my journey and decided to see it for myself."

"Sometimes we have Morlocks from other colonies come to join. They hear of this paradise and have to see for themselves. You are not alone." She smiled, her eyes glowed like fireflies.

"Not to be rude but I just can't but notice. Either I am looking at some new species or a very poorly-bred Morlock." He dropped an arm from the branch he dangled off of, directing his comment towards her.

"I am half Eloi." She snorted in response, this male was strange in his customs. They barely even knew each other for a few minutes and he was already insulting her.

"Oh I see. A rogue and lonesome Morlock got a bit too hyper with the lady livestock." He laughed to himself.

"My mother is not livestock. Eloi and Morlocks are equals here now. We feast on the Muumoo's you see before you. The Eloi run free." She corrected him with a stern glance.

"I heard of that too but I didn't really believe them. I guess I will have to accept what I see and hear. So I am to eat these creatures now? Do they taste good?" He continued in his same attitude.

"They taste wonderful. The Morlocks say even better than Eloi. Besides Eloi are not allowed to be eaten anymore anyways. There are a few more other Eloi-orks in this colony."

"Eloi-orks?" The male questioned. "A new terminology I must learn here as well."

"It's what the others call us halflings." She informed him, coming closer to the tree.

"I will have to get used to this place and your new ways of life." He blinked slowly. "Excuse me for my approach. I haven't slept in over two nights so I'm completely tuckered out."

"Well you are welcomed to join us below. Nobody will attack you." She pointed her finger and descended down a narrow opening in the grass. The male dragged himself under, his heavy eyes shifted around as he gathered in his new surroundings. The place was very clean compared to his home. No bones or Morlocks shoving each other about just to give themselves room to breathe.

She invited him to her family's cave for a stay. The male was wary, not many a family would allow some strange full-grown male into their home. He peered down the dark entrance and shook his head. Her face, just faintly appeared back towards him.

"Don't worry nobody is going to attack you." She encouraged him even though she wasn't too sure herself if this was such a good idea. She never had many friends but her father never minded Billie coming to visit.

"Whatever pleases you." The male yawned and just about fell down the tunnel as weak as he felt. He hadn't realized how little energy he had left to go around.

Her mother and children were down there, all eyes on him. Shikha gave her daughter a stern look. At first she thought this was a cave-thief and was about to call out to Mog.

The male himself could not help but stare at the children. They all were wide-eyed with their mouths just as open. Their eyes were a deep blue! One had the eyes of both his parents, adding to the wacky appearances. He shared the same transfixed face as they. What a freaky mix this family was.

"Morlock and Eloi love children. You guys are doing it-" he gulped, "weird."

"This male is strange Favul. Your father will be very angry." She didn't give the male a look over for invitation. It was known for strange males to attack and kill children that wasn't theirs.

"He's new here and I just want to make friends." Favul frowned as the male had swiftly turned around and disappeared back up the entrance.

"You can make friends up above, not down here where he can be easily killed."

Favul followed after the male. She lowered her head as she found him sitting on top of a boulder for safety. New feelings aroused inside her. He was different from the others. She didn't know why nor did she understand.

"I'm sorry. I was being hasty and didn't take the time to think."

"I figured it was going to turn out that way. It was a good thing your father wasn't down there." The male rolled his eyes, showing the whites.

A passing, older male came by and disappeared down the same cave. It was Mog, returning from work to spend the rest of the time with his family. He smiled at his daughter and glanced at the male with concern. It was uncommon to see his daughter talking to a male besides Billie. He gave the male a subtle warning with his tusks before going below.

"Oh yes it was a good thing he wasn't down below." The male sighed heavily. The size of Mog was more then enough to get his hair stiffened on end.

"Well as I said before I am tired. I shall find myself a hidden spot to sleep at before I fight for my own cave." He scrapped his nails against the side of the boulder to sharpen them.

"You speak as if you are not afraid." Favul commented. He was very laid-back and full of confidence. This gave her a very positive impression of him.

"Oh well we will see tomorrow when I kick ass." He boasted.

"Well goodnight then. I will watch you win a cave." She smiled and retired for bed rest. The male himself fell asleep behind the boulder, finding it a good place to keep himself from being too noticeable.

"Who was that?" Mog asked her just as she appeared.

"Just a newcomer. He's really nice and actually doesn't mind talking to me. He knows too that I'm a halfie."

"Hmm really? The kids said he called them weird." Mog grumbled, nothing peeved him more then having his family insulted. Yes they were an oddity but still he loved them more than anything.

"Well he never seen anything of it before. It was a harmless remark. He didn't mean anything by it." She defended the male. Mog sensed something different about her. His daughter was usually aggressive with all the males, she loathed them, wanted to leave her mark on them just to show how much she meant it.

She nestled herself between her younger brothers and sisters. Mog, always the last one to go to sleep, watched his family fall one by one to sleep. He had heard about Billie being pushed around by the bullies earlier on. Now the chances of his daughter ever pairing up with him was remote. He knew how weak of heart the young boy was.

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The next day Billie went to visit her only to find out she was gone. Usually she was down below eating breakfast and waiting for him. This sudden change distraught him very much. He hated drastic changes in his lifestyle. Maybe her father needed her for something? Maybe she was having a hard time with the hunt? It could be anything!

The halfling walked down through the long corridors again, up ahead he spotted a commotion. This could only mean one thing. A fight for a home! He shivered inside and climbed up on top of the ledge to see who it was this time. Down below were two males sizing each other up. They stood very low to the ground with their front arms splayed out before them. Their hair fanned out like on a cat's backside. The other Morlocks around them beat their fists and grunted in unison to them. Their bodies formed one big blue-greenish mass. Their silvery hair ruffled about as they clapped their hands. It was noticed Favul was down there too, close by the fight. So that was where she went off to. Silly female was dangerously close to the other bucks. Lucky for her all had their attention in the center where the real action was.

There was a loud muffling sound as the two Morlocks collided. Clawed hands darted back and forth as they cut each other across the chest and stomach. So many centuries of this type of physical abuse shaped the males better for this sort of game. Their necks shortened and their skin thickened. Every once and awhile a stupid male would try and choke his opponent, which was practically useless. Only the chisel-teeth could do any damage. Soon mouths gaped open and slashed shoulders and cheeks. The air was beginning to fill with the sweet smell of blood. Both males separated for a few seconds to regain their strength. Their eyes squinted from the thick blood running down their foreheads.

The battle ended gruesomely as one male calculated a hard blow right up his opponent's face. His long claws hooked under the male's top teeth and shattered the maxilla. The loser's face ripped all the way open to the top of his scalp.

There was a loud shrieking mutter of pain and the male rolled across the floor in convulsions. He cupped his face as blood poured over his hands. Billie saw Favul's eyes glow with awe at the raw power demonstrated by the winner.

The winner lost a claw in the process but he claimed victory of his new home. The other males, some whom were decided to fight next in line decided strongly against it when they saw the type of epic skill the stranger inflicted upon his rival.

They all scattered off, leaving the dying male on the ground still groaning in agony. Nobody cared for the loser. He would die soon anyways. Favul was still there very close to the new male's cave.

"Wow that was amazing." She almost squealed like a fan girl at a concert.

"I was expecting worse really. He was easy." He raised his chin with half-closed eyes. His light hair dampened with dark blood.

Billie snorted. What a showoff this guy was and his own friend was buying into it. The male breathed in sharply and spotted him up on the ledge. Their eyes met and the male acknowledged him with a sharp grunt.

"Well what you are gawking at?"

Billie shrunk down against the ledge. He felt his heart leap up in his throat. Favul giggled and coaxed him from his hiding spot.

"That's only my friend Billie. He's an Eloi-ork like me, grandson to the Time Traveler." She introduced them.

The greeting between them was not very friendly. There was a hinted sign of jealousy between the two. This was not a good time for two bachelors to make friends, not with such a prize between them. Billie wasn't aware of these feelings. He stood off, confused by the male's hard glare. The male then rested his eyes easy back on Favul and returned the smile.

"Oh really? We all heard of him." The male spoke. "So did he go for a Morlock as well? Very strange indeed."

"No my dad is Morlock." Billie responded with a quiet voice, his eyes to the ground.

Favul didn't pick up any hint of the conflict between them. She only passed smiles between them and proceeded to check up on the male's fresh wounds. Billie turned around and left the two to themselves. His breathing felt shallow as his heart plummeted to his stomach. Favul was not acting the same anymore. She wasn't focusing all her attention on him as she used to. No, now she was preening that stupid show-off. She barely even known him for two days and she was already all over him. What did that buck have that he didn't have? He had been friends longer. They both hunted as a team and got along.

For the first time he felt the calling of mate-hood inside him. He did want her for himself but he did not have the courage to carry on such a challenge. This male was very tough and had no mercy for his rivals. The loser's dying moan's continued on for a few more hours. Billie watched him stumble around with his jaw bone hanging in pieces from his swollen face until he succumbed to shock and blood loss. He swore if he ever became the winner in a fight he would finish his opponent off.

The poor Eloi-ork looked very much all Morlock except for his odd-numbered toes and fingers and his blue eyes. He had the figure to be a tough fighter but alas he lacked the confidence. What little Eloi blood he had in him rained down heavy on his belligerent side with gentleness. He only wanted to dance and frolic like the little people did. The ghastly wars the Morlocks took out on each other seemed alien to him. To us he would seem a hulking buck that could easily take on anything. His muscles were like iron and his claws were very sharp like that of a bird of prey. Even his tusks were larger then a normal male's. His soft feelings betrayed him every time. It stopped him short from proving his family his full potential. So much for the fabled "hybrid vigor."

He wanted Favul for himself. He sat down and brooded in his thoughts to see how he could attract her. Maybe if she gave him enough courage and the promise to be his partner he could win a cave.

Later on that evening he found Favul to herself, cutting up pieces of Muumoo meat to dry out in the sun. He approached her and sat very close. He could feel his heart in his throat.

"Hey Favul, how is it going?" He started, his blood draining from his face.

"Oh I'm doing fine, was just talking to Tusk." She answered in her cheery voice.

Billie turned his head away with his brow furrowed, that stupid male. I will show her that I am a better partner for her. He leaned against her and pressed his face into her hair.

"What's wrong?" It wasn't of Billie to be so close like that.

"Oh I just noticed you smell very good. Are you wearing something?" He answered in a cool voice.

"No but I did wash up so I guess I smell cleaner." She continued cutting the meat into slivers.

Billie searched through his thoughts, remembering how to advance on a female. He had watched many partnerships be created through intricate steps of courtship. He grabbed her around the middle and mounted her backside to show what he desired from her. Pressing his hips against her rear he barked loudly. To his shock he was met with snarling fangs from her. She had never been so angry at him before. He shrunk back with surprise but stood stiffly.

She didn't say anything to him. There were just no words she could pull out to tell him what she thought of that. Quickly She scooped up her tools and left him there alone.

This was the biggest blow in his life, ever since his mother ran away from him. He felt tears well up in his eyes. He was rejected! He felt his legs go weak beneath him. Now he only wanted to roll up in a ball and crouch in the deepest, loneliest part of this whole underground place.

He raised his head back and with whatever anger he had left reserved for that male he roared. It was tremendous, showing every ounce of pain he was feeling at that moment. All of it expelled he felt the cold creep around him, circling around him to nip at his hurt even more.

"If she doesn't want me, then nobody will want me." He went back home to recollect his feelings. He ignored his father's pressing eyes, knowing sooner or later his father would question. His smell of anxiety was heavy in the Morlock's nose.

"What is wrong boy?" Shadow asked, finishing up his meal.

"Oh nothing really." He tried to sound alright, his legs jolted in protest.

"You are very depressed I can smell it. Spell it out son." His father would not allow him to hide his feelings any longer. "I tried to earn a mate and was rejected. She did not want me." He cringed.

"Well of course." His father simply told him without any show of feeling.

"So you think I am a wimp as well?" He blurted out.

"No you need to earn a cave first then court. No female will allow a male to advance her till then. You should know that very well." Shadow explained, licking his fingers.

He was right, Billie thought. That was the only obstacle in his path, a cave. That was it. Billie stood up, not wanting to waste anymore time worrying about his own dread. He thought about life without a mate and it was a dreadful and distance one.

He snorted loudly and charged out the cave. His father watched him go.

"I hope he comes home safely." Fidget's eyes met his with concern.

Billie ignored every male that stood in his way. This was the day he would show everybody what he was really made of. No longer will anybody suppress him! He will claw their guts out if that was what it took!

He felt himself falter when he came upon the male's cave. Favul was there talking to him! Reluctantly he called out a challenge to the male. Tusk snorted and raised his head to see this new rival. Favul herself felt deep fear.

"You shouldn't Billie." She warned him.

Tusk came out of his cave, ready for the challenge. The Morlocks started to circle them again. Billie could not turn back now even now that his fear started to cloud his mind again.

"Show your true strength Billie." He said to himself as he lowered into fighting mode. The opponent's circled around each other, their eyes never leaving each other. Billie came at him first, swinging his hand with claws out-stretched.

Favul gasped as she saw Tusk grab Billie's wrist and twisted his body around. The Eloi-ork's arm shattered with a loud crack as Tusk cranked it around his back. Billie screamed and jerked away from him, tumbling backwards.

He laid there, his chest rising and dropping rapidly. Pain shot from his crooked arm to every part of his body. Favul felt herself frozen. Tusk didn't approach. He stood triumph by rearing up and pounding his chest with a single fist. The fight was quickly over. Billie dragged himself away, his useless arm dangled beside him.

Now he knew how it felt to be a loser for real. The males stepped over him with no concern to return to their own work. Favul didn't even come to his aid. For some odd reason something inside her clicked and she couldn't feel any remorse for him no matter how much she tried. Her feelings were on Tusk now. He had proved himself twice without even so much as of a sweat.

Mother Nature had shown her cruel talons again in this round. The circle of friendship broken and harshness rewarded.

Billie felt his body give out just halfway back to his home. He sunk on the ground in a whimpering heap. His injured arm swelled up and turned all shades of purple. It didn't take long for his family to sense their son's distressing calls. With difficulty, Shadow carried his son back to his place. The males around him scoffed and ridiculed the weakling.

"Leave him where he falls!" One called out.

"That's what you get for breeding up halflings!" Another joined in.

It was many days before Billie became conscious again. He drifted in and out of sleep only to moan in pain when he opened his eyes. Fidget was there to comfort him and Shadow came home earlier each day to stay close by.

"He won't lose the arm but it won't be normal again." Shadow had fixed his arm in a caste. Fidget held his sweating body down as he flinched from the immense pain.

"Don't think he will ever win a cave?" Fidget patted his forehead. Shadow was silent for a long time, looking down at his son. He hated the words that would come out of his mouth but he knew they were true.

"No I'm afraid not."


	3. Chapter 3 Swift Changes

**Chapter. 3 Swift Changes**

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_"Go away Tago I want nothing to do with you!" She screamed, hiding behind Shandow._

_"Katie, you, mine! Come now!" Tago pointed at her and thumped his finger to his chest. _

_"I would rather be slaughtered in the most horrific way imaginable before I stay with you." She felt herself being driven backwards, the other Eloi pressing onto them._

_Tago came forth with confidence, shoving Shandow aside. _

_"Shandow protect me! He wants to hurt me!" She cried in a shrill voice._

_Her partner stepped in between them, his face met Tago's. This long-gone sight was un heard of to any Eloi. They all stared at the two males with gasping voices._

_"You die then." Tago grabbed Shandow and wrestled with him on the ground. Katie screamed and rushed forward, trying to stop Tago. His followers blocked her path and held her back. The other Eloi continued their gasping and jittering._

_There was a loud snap as Tago grabbed Shandow's head with a hooked hand and twisted the little neck. Her partner's body went limp as his last breath escaped him._

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Katie screamed herself awake, her face wet with tears. She sat upright and looked around as she breathed heavily. She was alone, all alone. The night air so deathly silent.

"Oh why do you haunt me?" She cried to herself, wrapping her arms around her legs. That horrid Eloi's face still stained her memories. Again and again she tried to think of Shandow back in the days they both were together. Only that dark memory of his death would replay itself again and again.

She heard somebody coming her way. Quickly she climbed up a tree as she always did to hide herself. Out of depression she had resorted to new habits to keep herself away from the rest of the world. She held her breath, waiting to see who followed her.

"Katie! Please come out! Please I beg you!" A Morlock groaned so sadly. She recognized it being Shadow's.

"I need you damn you!" He continued to cry out. This panged her terribly. She had never heard him cry out in this tone before. Something must be horribly wrong. Still she held herself to her promise.

Shadow dropped to his knees close by and crawled to the tree that her scent held strongest too. There was a fresh puddle of her sweet smell at the base of the tree. He rolled over on his back and looked up at the branches, her silhouette just barely shown against the leaves. His chest heaved as he cried out loud again.

"Please Katie come down to me. I need you right now more then ever." He sobbed, holding out his hands to her.

His pleas was almost more then she could handle. For once in so many years she went back against her old habit and opened her mouth.

"You seem so sad." She whispered with the rustling of the leaves. The tree was talking to him it felt like.

Shadow propped himself up against the tree, his face gleaming wet. "My mate, Fidget, she died giving birth. I lost them both! I lost her! I lost her! This morning!"

He fell back down and sobbed again. Katie felt her breath stifle. She crept down the other side of the tree and poked her head around. The little half-breed could see herself now, in somebody else. She wished for nothing but long-life happiness for the couple. But now that must end too as well.

"I'm so sorry Shadow." Her voice broke, revealing herself behind the tree.

Shadow walked around and clung to her. He pressed his face into her stomach, grabbing her tunic. He used to do this to her long ago when he was frightened by her father's yelling or when a bad storm hit. Such bittersweet memories made her want to claw herself.

Without another word Shadow picked her up in his arms like a young child and walked back home with her. She didn't protest, only hung limp with her face in his chest. It was nice to be close to somebody she loved again.

Nerok, Fidget's first child, stayed close with his other half-siblings to make sure no single males tried to take advantage of the vulnerable cave. Billie was still very weak but newly shaken up by his step-mother's death. Having witnessed it totally drained him of any happy thoughts. He just laid there with his dull eyes staring across the floor. The children were quiet, all grouped around their oldest brother. The smell of death was still in the air, hovering over them, an unneeded reminder.

Shadow walked back in with the Eloi in his arms. Billie, once appearing so void of life suddenly lifted his head. Was this who he thought it was?

"M-mom?" He uttered, wincing from the pain of his arm shooting through him. The half-breed crawled towards her and whimpered. Katie felt his face, recognizing her son. He hugged her with a single arm and purred quietly.

Shadow started to preen the rest of his children, drawing their attention from Billie and his own mother. The kids stared back, jealousy overcame them. How dare he bring his own mother in here after what just happened.

"Why don't you children go pay a visit to Fere? Her children wants somebody to play with." Shadow ushered Nerok out the door with his siblings to watch over. "Take them out for awhile."

Katie stroked her son's hair, his head in her lap. It was like a long lost dream coming true. Was this really just a dream of his? No not with all the pain he was enduring right now.

"What happened to your arm?" She just noticed the massive injury.

"I lost trying to win a mate." He tried to smile back at her.

"My poor boy." She cradled his head again and kissed his cheek.

"I feel better now you are here. Will you stay with us?" He asked with pleading eyes.

"That's if your family wants me to." Katie gave him the answer he wanted. In truth she only wanted to hide away from the pain again. Now this awful event was the last thing she wanted to join in. Her son needed her too badly. It would hurt her even worse to desert him again.

"Of course they will." He grumbled, his grip on her tighter.

"Go out for awhile son but don't go too far. I need to discuss things with your mother." Shadow tapped his shoulder.

"Okay then." The other males have since left Billie alone after he had lost. Despite the fact he had lost the fight he had gained more respect for trying. He was not that big of a wuss after awhile but just a loser. If that even made any sense. He would no longer fight for the right to mate, it was pointless to waste energy on him.

He lumbered down the corridor, maybe Favul is around above ground hunting. He would go to her and tell her the great news of his mother's return. Sporting his father's bowed legs, it made it hard for him to run. He could only canter in a swaggering motion that made him look a drunk. Outside the stars glittered brightly with not a cloud in the sky. The distant lowing of the Muumoo's was all that was heard. He, as all the others that lived here, were used to the deafening silence of this world unlike ours. There were no birds or many bugs to fill the night air with song. Only the Eloi's random calls and the Muumoo's constant vocalization along with the swaying trees kept the air noisy.

Up ahead the pleasant sound of Favul's giggling could be heard. Billie stopped short when he heard her voice being interrupted by another deeper grunting. She was not alone.

He stopped his prancing and snuck in close to spy on the activity. To his greatest disgust it was that damned male, Tusk, hanging out with his friend. He bared his teeth and watched on.

The two were enjoying a plump cow feast. The elongated claw marks and strangled throat of the carcass only meant that he had hunted it for her. The nerve of him. He watched as Tusk would creep closer and closer to her, invading her space.

Billie felt his skin crawl and his breath cease. Tusk nibbled on her neck, leaning up against her. Favul stopped chewing her food. Her suitor repeated that same tactic Billie did to her when he tried to court her. He mounted her from behind and started to bark loudly.

This was it! She was going to turn around and smack the shit out of him for such advances.

Billie counted the seconds. Favul made no motion to shake him off as he dry-humped her. Tusk dismounted and hooted loudly. He rocked back on his feet and splayed out his arms. He stomped his feet and jerked his arms around with his hair flared out to exaggerate his size. Favul watched him with her mouth opened in wonderment. Tusk then came down at in a crouching pose with his chest puffed out.

"Leave him now. He's not worth it." Billie felt his throat close up.

His friend pressed her own chest against her suitor's and squealed in return, accepting his grand display. She said yes.

Billie wanted to roll over and die. Before he turned away he heard Tusk's last words to her. "Why don't we finish this at my place?'

The half-breed cantered into the darkness, his swelling eyes blinding his way. He would fall into a gully for all he gave a damn. His mending arm began to bug him with searing pain once again. He slowed down, not wanting to break it all over again. His breath came in and out in raspy breaths. He spotted a lonely Muumoo calf crying for it's mother. It had probably lost it to the Morlocks, to those two damned partners-to-be.

Wheeling around in a tight circle he charged the calf with terrific speed. He jumped up and landed right on top of it's back, snapping it with a squelchy crunch. The calf shrieked and waddled like a fish out of water. The halfling sunk his tusks into its soft neck and shook it violently until it cried out no more.

He dropped the lifeless thing on the ground and stared at it. He hardly ever killed anything and now a poor calf lay at his feet. He started to bawl again, dragging his claw against the grain of its fur.

"Oh quit crying Billie you did it a favor. It had no family to love it back." He told himself. "You are a Morlock so act like one. You are a predator. No predator has mercy for its prey."

He shook his body and growled loudly. With a slash of his fangs he poured the intestines onto the grass, blood soaked into the dry earth.

"I'm sorry little thing." He said at last, not feeling very hungry at all. He left the body strewn on the ground and went for a walk to recollect his thoughts. The other Morlocks have come out to spend time above ground.

Nobody could approach the half-breed. His attitude had turned for the worst. All he wanted was to be alone. He even snarled at his own father's approach with a submissive posture.

"I don't know what is with that boy of mine." Shadow shook his head. "Awhile ago he was so happy to see his mother."

"I haven't seen my daughter all day." Mog growled, her scent was everywhere in the woods, leading down back below.

"I saw her following closely behind a male." Fere answered. "Their scent told me everything."

Mog snorted very loudly, almost startling a few of the Morlocks. "Mate?"

"They smelled excited. I believe your daughter will not return home." Fere picked over the left over carcass Billie had left behind.

Now it begun that Mog's children were leaving him. Favul was the start. It was a hard blow for him to think his daughter was already into things like that. It seemed only yesterday that he and Shikha courted each other.

"Be happy that she had a male interested. You know how what a hard life a halfling leads. She's been accepted." Fere reconciled him. "For the longest time I believed she would have no suitors."

"I know it's just-" Mog ended his sentence with another snort.

"My son lost and will no longer fight for a mate," Shadow told Mog, " so be happy."

"I am sorry to hear that. I saw his arm." Mog grimaced, remembering Shadow's loss of a mate and now the injury inflicted on his son. A Morlock's life was a harsh one indeed. They could take on the toils many humans would probably commit suicide to. Death was a bedfellow for them.

"His heart is with the Eloi only he does not know it." Fere went on. Fown soon approached the group and helped her finish the calf. "He is not weak, just out of place."

"My son looks like all Morlock though. He can't have the mind of an Eloi." Shadow growled. He had nothing against Eloi but knew his son would never find a place among his people.

"He may on the outside but it's the inside that truly counts. You have known that for years. Nothing will make him like a Morlock."

Shadow raised his head and sniffed. The Eloi were close by in large numbers, sleeping. There were a few that stayed awake, keeping an eye on things. These were the Eloi of the White Sphinx. They were a feared bunch that the Morlocks did not care for too much.

"I want to strangle his little neck." Shadow's eyes fell onto a much older male who was standing watch. It was Tago, around him his equally nasty followers.

"Your grandfather did a big mistake." Fere looked up at the standing Eloi. "That is the nastiest Eloi I have ever met. Oh boy if I was still a breeder I would catch him and put the gelding knife right between his legs myself."

"Eloi breeding senses tingling there eh?" Fown teased.

"Oh hell yes. He's a cull that needs to be gotten rid of." Fere twisted a lock of her mate's arm hair.

"I would love to smash his head in. For what he did to Katie." Shadow licked his lips, snarling at the old Eloi's shadow.

Tago replied with a loud call to his followers to keep better watch on the monsters down before them.

"Ugh lets go before the shrimps start to gather." Shadow grumbled, disappearing into the brush with the others behind him.

Billie watched them from his hiding place in the banana leave bushes. His eyes switched over to the Eloi that were all sleeping in a group. It had never occurred to him to try his luck with this species. He was a quarter Eloi anyways.

The Eloi slept in a tight-knit group, heads laying on bodies and arms entangled. Up close he had come to notice how really small they were. Why they were child-sized stick figures. Their gangly, colt-like legs and narrow bodies looked so easy to smash. They also looked very docile and gentle even more then the Muumoo's.

He came to them in a non-aggressive approach, whimpering to them to stay still. The little Eloi heads popped up one by one, all staring at his direction. Their chattering picked up and they started to unravel their spindly legs. George's trained fighters came forward and waved sticks at the Eloi-ork.

Wow he was sure wrong.

"Please don't be afraid! I won't hurt you!" He called out. The Eloi scrambled over on top of each other, some wrapped themselves in little balls and cried out loud. Tago came ahead, his joints crackling along the way with a sharpened knife. He swiped it at the Morlock's legs, cutting his clothing.

"Ouch!" Billie smacked the blade out of Tago's hand. The old Eloi doubled back, now that he was defenseless. His arm started to smart again. He watched the Eloi spread out in confusion.

Now he had no friends on either side. "I'm so lonely." Some of the Eloi were still on the ground whimpering, left behind by the others. Billie approached one and licked her face.

"I won't hurt you." He rolled over and exposed his stomach, showing how playful he could be. The Eloi was not won over but sprang off like a deer into the woods.

Billie let out another growl of frustration and stomped off. He had almost forgotten about his mother. It had all happened so soon. He hightailed it back home to cuddle in her arms again. Here at least he was cherished.

She smelled very sharp after his father. That same excited scent that Favul and Tusk gave off. He withdrew sharply, wrinkling his nose.

"Sorry." He leaned against his mother's side and purred. His arm started to ache from too much use.

"I know how vulnerable a single parent can be in these caves. I did my duty to help keep it stable. Don't want to see your family harmed." She grinned at him as best she could.

Billie knew what that meant and his heart soared again.

"But do you love each other?" He questioned, not wanting his mother to keep herself from being happy.

"Of course I do. Me and your father always were close since we were little. It's a long story on why we didn't get together. Long story my son." She stroked his face again. "You look more like your father than I remember."

"Yeah they always say that." He yawned, resting his head back in her lap. "Did dad bring you any fruit? I'm hungry for one."

"Yes he did." She gave him a plump raspberry, one of his favorites. While he ate she daydreamed. Next to her Shandow would stand and but slowly his face would fog over. To her terror it turned out to be Tago again. She almost started to cry again. The sound of her son smacking aroused her back in the real world again. It would be a long recovery. Her son was so blind to the horrors of her own imaginative world. She bent over and kissed his forehead again. Her first treasure.

Her mind gave over to the warm thoughts of Billie's birth. That was one of the happiest moments of her life. It was a big turn point in her life and her father's. She had never told him who the sire of her progeny was. Only Jones knew but didn't interfere against the growing stress between father and daughter.

_"You will know when it is born." _

_"Damn you. What is the point of hiding Katie? I will know eventually!"_

On a September evening she finally fell into labor and only three hours later Billie came out into the world. Jones helped deliver the heavy baby. It was very strenuous for such a small first time mother. Katie felt that she would faint and just die there in her own mess and blood.

She remembered vividly her first sight of him. Jones's hands reappeared from between her legs with a bloody, squirming newborn. Billie's little smudged face, his every feature revealed who his father was. That snub nose, wrinkly face, oh and those hands! Three-fingered little hooks that grabbled at the air around him.

The scream of her father rising up in the entire room as she busted out crying at the sight of her precious gift. Jones was smiling and frowning all at the same time. Mainly at George's outrageous reaction. He was sure the roof would blow off its top.

Katie blocked out the complaints of her father and only focused on her future.

_"It's a big boy Katie."_

"He's so beautiful." She said beneath her breath.


	4. Chapter 4 All Alone

**Chapter. 4 All Alone

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**

Over the weeks Billie felt himself beginning to distance from his family. The thoughts of Favul and Tusk haunted him over and over again every night. He could be with her now, holding her in his arms, grooming her. They could be preparing for their own family. He would have to hunt alone now if he was to get any meat. The Muumoo's shrieks he will have to grow used to.

His parents grew worried over his detachment, even his mother couldn't seem to shake him from it. The outside families were beginning to scorn them for keeping a full-grown son inside with them still. He should be tossed out to fend for himself like the rest! Shadow wouldn't have any of it.

"Why should he have to leave? He will never have a partner and no cave. I don't want to see my son shivering in the musty corners of the caverns, trying to etch out a meaningless life." Katie added, still brooding in the corner by herself. She was not the same fighter as in the past.

"If we won't then the others will. It's considered unnatural." He stared back at her thoughtfully. "I don't want to throw him out either."

"Unnatural? What about us being together? Mog and Shikha? That's even more unnatural! We have plenty of room here." She distressed, the almost pitch blackness of the cave made it even worse. She had to feel her way around and use her acute sense of smell inherited from her mother.

Billie could hear every word. His back turned to them as he lay on the floor, pretending to sleep among his brothers and sisters. Nerok himself had already left to join the others.

He so desperately wanted to leave but what chance now that he had? His arm still had a long way to heal and it would never be the same. Being able to work hard even seemed impossible. His future was a dead end for sure. He felt his eyes water. Never was he very good at containing his feelings. The young half-breed picked himself up and began to sob at them.

"I have no life! I have nothing anymore but the shredded clothing on my waist!" He shrieked at them.

"Calm down son." Shadow lumbered forward.

"No! Why did you two create me for? My life has been hell! I am no Morlock! Not an Eloi! I do not fit in with the dark dwellers and not even the Eloi want to know me! Not even the Eloi-ork I was coming to grow close to! I am nothing!" He beat his fists on the ground, ignoring the sharp pain.

"Stop it now before you hurt your arm again." Shadow grabbed him, squeezing his shoulder. Katie drew from them, afraid to approach her large son. All what she could see was their silhouettes and glowing eyes.

"I hate everybody! I wanna kill them all!" Billie roared, his eyes bulged out. He fisted his father in the chest and clambered out from their home. His breath roared in and out of his lungs.

Shadow was hesitant to follow, surely he must do something. The poor boy was raging inside. The troubled half-breed may be weak in mind but he had his father's arms of steel.

Billie escaped out above ground in the daylight. The clouds cloaked his sensitive skin from the strong sun's torching rays. His eyes poorly adjusted themselves to his surroundings. His huge pupils could only restrict so much to keep him comfortable. He snorted loudly like a proud stallion and scurried into the wood's shadows. His hovering figure with his arms held out low worsened his appearance.

If only he had his mother always perhaps he wouldn't be such a soft-hearted pussy. He leapt over a log and found the strong scent of the Eloi laid out before him. The large group was close by.

The group's leader stood leading against a tree with eyes half-closed in a sleepy stupor. It was Tago, one of the foundation Eloi who had helped lead to a new revolution. Only then he was young and full of fire.

His body wasn't used to this new lifestyle of aging. His kind, for so long have been bred to be slaughtered right away when just mature. Now his body reacted brutally. His knees and hips roared with pain and some mornings he just would lie there in his leaf bedding. Sometimes the pain in his back would make him roll over and over. He would jerk his head back and shriek in pain. The Eloi around him would shrink away. It wasn't a good idea to be around him when he was throwing a fit.

Katie no longer came to him when called now. He searched the land but not a trace of her scent was found. Later the other Eloi picked it up leading to the caverns of his greatest enemy. She had turned her back against her own kind.

"Katie." He murmured under his breath. His heavy eyes closed fully as he searched his own thoughts. She was the first female he actually fell for. In the beginning he had no attachments for any of the Eloi around him. They were just other life forms that wandered the earth. They were just like the trees. They were just there and he could care less if they disappeared and never returned. But not with Katie. Something about her moved him deeply inside, so deeply that he thought his brain would turn itself inside out. He wanted her with him everywhere, all to himself.

He started out a very gentle Eloi like all the others. After the Time Traveler's training he gained a new conscious within himself. That will power to fight for himself. It was an instinct that still hung on but was carted away to the darkest part of his memories. Now he knew who he was and what individualism was. For some reason that made no sense to him like many other things, this deemed positive thing turned him savage. Maybe if he was real gentle with Katie and showed her that she meant the world to him it would have been likely they both paired happily.

That was another problem. He didn't know how to actually "love." He knew how to flirt with females and run about and sleep with them but not actual bondage. When Katie refused his advances again and again he felt a deep anger rise up. He _must_ have her.

Even after all these years he never was sorry for that night that he spoiled her. He had gotten his way after all. His mind was too sick now to change. His soft blue eyes turned ugly like that of some rutting animal. Sharp and prodding to seize a moment to do harm. He was the extreme example of what happened to the Eloi after their newfound feelings. It took control of his feeble mind and infested him.

Even the other Eloi were afraid of him. The females would cower at the sight of him and most knew better than to fight when he wanted them. The males kept clear out of his way, afraid to feel his striking hand over the back of their heads. His own children were not safe from his raging blows either. Some were knocked from their mother's arms and killed as their necks would twist from the ground's impact.

The Eloi were his prisoners. His most devoted followers helped make his leadership stronger over them all. It would not last long he knew. Soon they were flourished back in the upper hills with the Morlocks.

Oh how he loathed those fiendish creatures. His very masters that he had helped overthrown decades before. It made him even more livid to see his kind loitering with those smelly beasts.

He whined as he moved away from the tree to find a pool to drink from. His joints creaked with each step, sounding off his soreness. He was growing emaciated from lack of eating. The pain still driving him madder as ever.

As he bent over a small stream to sip from he noted a shadow looming close in front of him. The acrid stench of sickening rotting flesh and musty earth hovered around him. It couldn't be. He looked up.

A Morlock stood before him, half way on a fallen tree trunk. For a while they both stood silent like two stones. Tago felt his breath fall short. He must be hallucinating. No Morlock ever had come out in this time of day. It was against every law of nature. It would not allow this obtrusion. Surely this was not real.

He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes. Still the Morlock was every bit as real as him. The Morlock dug his claws deeper into the rotten wood and slowly lowered himself. Tago's legs tensed as he prepared himself to run. If he even could any more.

He spun around and shot off back to his group. His knees cracking loudly. He opened his mouth to scream for help. His body came slamming down into the earth, breaking his nose. He felt the beast's hand around his neck, rising him off the ground with no trouble.

He stared back at the face of his ugly killer. _His eyes mesmerized him_.

They were familiar blue eyes that he recognized from somebody, somewhere. Only these were cold and so very angry. Not the albino red ones he was familiar with. Only when the Time Traveler flung matches in their face did he note that. Otherwise he only knew them as glowing orbs.

His line of thinking broke off as the Morlock screamed.

"I hate you! I hate you so fucking much! You hurt my mother! You hurt me!" He screamed in that animal language the old Eloi could not understand.

Tago's old anger welled up in him again and he started to kick out against the Morlock's chest. He wailed and cursed the Morlock, cursing his family and his every existence.

The Morlock's fist came crashing down on his skull, causing it to explode from the severe pressure of the strike. Brains and bone fragments went everywhere. The Eloi hung limp, his tyranny over.

The Morlock was none other than Billie. He tossed the lifeless body aside. Tago's followers watched from behind trees, seeing their dead leader took a chunk away from their confidence. This was one kill he did not feel sorry for. All the anger that was built up ebbed away. The beast inside him fled away as did the surrounding Eloi. He walked back through the woods. His eyes softened in satisfaction. He snuggled under a lichen-covered tree and bit into some lemon-sized cherries. With some of the ground moss growing around the roots of the tree, he wiped the blood chunks off his chest.

Now his kind mother had nobody to fear any longer. Why couldn't his father do the same? Oh yes, the light. It dawned on him that he had a major advantage over his cave-dwelling relatives. He could come out in the soft lights of the daytime. The rest of the dopes down below would scurry from the sun's wrath.

What about those other halflings? He could care less about them. Despite being so similar he wanted nothing to do with Favul's siblings. They all had that Morlock lust inside them to kill and fight.

_But I have that as well._

"Only if necessary like today." He mused, throwing the pits of his fruit aside. Of all the others he was the most beastly looking. His silver hair grew long and would flow out behind him when he ran around. That's one feature he enjoyed about himself. It was also good against flies. After stuffing his stomach with the tender flesh of Muumoo the flies would try and attack his face. One toss of his head and the little nasty buggers were whipped off. At bad times he would use his hair to screen his face. The hair growing from the nap of his shoulders fell down half-mid his back. Some form of protection from the sun and biting bugs as well.

At the bottom of the pool where Tago had taken his last drink was a nice place of churned up mud. The halfling rolled down in it, coating his back and chest in the cool gooey dirt. It helped keep his sensitive skin further protected. The day's intense heat was defeated now. He plopped on his chest and rested his face on the edge of the solid ground.

A few of the Eloi spotted him and watched him from secure places. A Morlock in daylight? This was something very dire. Billie kept an eye open on them. His aching arm soothed by the coolness made him sleepy. He should come here more often.

The Eloi grew more convinced to come closer for a drink. Billie didn't move a muscle, only his blue eyes stared back at them. They smelled so sweet and were so quiet about their ways. He just wanted to run with them, to play, to sing, to dance. Here they regarded him like a zebra does a crocodile. Some of them climbed up high in the trees low-reaching branches just above him.

He rolled over on his back to add a layer of fresh mud. The Eloi still on the ground were gone quicker than a flash of a lightning streak. The halfling could hear their muscles jolt just as they dashed away. The Eloi may be weak compared to the Morlocks but they were nimble. Most of them. The ones bred by their masters were slow in response and some even fainted right there on the spot. These were picked off first, by some carnivore that figured one of the little people being gone wouldn't be noticed.

Some of the weaker male Morlocks were starting to view the Eloi females as something other than food too. Since they could not breed their own kind they ventured out in search of the weaker women to accomplish their needs. At least the female Eloi didn't care if their partners had a cave or not. Most of the matings resulted from rape. Some died from the bite wounds inflicted on their shoulders. The Morlocks forget that their partners were very thin-skinned.

A few more tender-hearted males would court them in restrained fashions, creating curiosity among the Eloi into joining their games. Mating was Eloi's favorite past time so they reluctantly allowed themselves to be approached. Only the boldest of the women submitted themselves in the grasp of their savage enemy.

Still it would be a very long time before the two species would altogether combine themselves. In their genetic makeup, still pounded the role of the prey and predator. It took a lot of self-discipline to not break the new rules that changed their lifestyle so quickly.

Billie, a poster-child as of this coming of a new age, was stuck between their two worlds. He tried very much to be what he looked like the most.

He got up and scratched his claws against a nearby tree and stretched. The mud formed a crusty shell over his skin and hung in clumps in his hair. He could easily live out here by himself. Why suffer down below any longer?

"This is where I truly belong." He concurred, sinking his claws into the spongy bark.

At least up here he wouldn't have to face seeing Favul and Tusk as much. He tore off chunks of bark just thinking about them. He would be so alone with nobody to think about him the same way as they would with each other.

"The world hates me." He sneered. "It's probably the best to just leave this place behind me and look elsewhere for a chance. Father says the world is a massive place, my grandfather told him so. There could be many other colonies and Eloi out there. Maybe even some like me."

This new idea encouraged him. To stay here longer would just be pointless. There was somebody out there waiting for him. The clouds started to move on. Billie feared the brightest part of the day. He drifted deeper into the woods where the leaves were dense.

A constant humming of flies was heard not only a yard away. He went down to investigate what attracted the uncommon insects. It was only the body of some Morlock killed the night before. As he suspected, male. The same victim as Billie was. A loser, only this one had the luxury of loosing his life. The flies swarmed around the face and the gashed neck.

Billie picked up his feet, realizing they were sticky with coagulated blood. The dark puddle of drying body fluids spread out and stayed obscured by the shadows. After smelling the individual's body scent he recognized it being one of males that took delight in shoving him around. Now here he lay dead and Billie still thriving.

There were footprints cutting paths around the body and a few scratches in the earth. The fight happened here he supposed. There were a few female scents too.

Females. The bachelors practically worshipped them. Unlike his human ancestors there was hardly any male dominance amongst either of the hominid species. For the Morlocks it was hard to tell apart male and female for us besides size differences. Looks were not something the carnivores cared about. It was being fit to survive. In such a dark life scent was the most important element.

The desire to be "beautiful" was lost to them many ages ago. It was something they couldn't afford and in the end it really mattered very little. Billie was the same way. To him a female's lovely scent was enough to turn him on.

His father, Shadow, had little understanding of his human adopters and their comments of "ugliness." He heard that word himself a million times over from his master. Over time he started to understand the meaning of looks to the humans. Billie never learned such a thing.

After night fall came he stopped his midday brooding as the colony once again spilled out onto the plains. Their howls echoed the call of dinnertime. He would wait for his father to bring down food to his family and feast there. Grief still hung over his siblings and father. They ate in silence, not a smile to be had.

Billie took his place beside his mother and father. His mother shared herself some of the jerky Shadow made for her since she could not stomach the gruesome taste of raw flesh.

Katie and Shadow later talked of their childhood days when the children went to sleep to ease their full bellies. Billie eavesdropped while he pretended to sleep.

"I recall how you used to steal the chicken out of the fridge." Katie giggled. "Dad would get so pissed when he found it missing."

"Don't forget the time he caught me." Shadow replied, scratching his chest.

"I don't remember that."

"Well I had the chicken in my mouth and I was heading half way out the front door and Weena was just about to walk in. She screamed and I screamed and well master was right behind her. He got the horse whip and came after me." He smiled. "First time an Eloi actually scared the pants off of me."

"Dad always treated you like some straggly dog." She stroked his face. "You look like one from a first glance though."

"Oh thank you my tasty treat." He licked his tusks.

"Not so loud that the children will hear." She whispered.


	5. Chapter 5 The Wanderer

**Chapter 5. The Wanderer

* * *

  
**

"_Master we must speak." The crouching hominid bowed his head before the beautiful sun-people. The fair-skinned man sat at his grand chair, laden with gold and white marble. _

"_What is it you want? Slave?" He picked at the assortment of fruits before him. _

_The slave crawled across the floor on his knees. He was an ugly beast that seemed more animal than human. His back curved and his hair trailed down his backside and arms. He seemed an undeserving creature compared to the beautiful, god-like one before him. _

"_Food. It is growing sparse for us. Not enough rodents and lizards to feast on. They are growing less and less from not being able to replenish themselves. The machinery is fine." The creature spoke with his eyes to the ground._

"_Well you should have thought of that before turning your taste against the world's good greens." The ruler simply replied. He had no desire to look upon this foul beast._

"_But your good sir! What may we eat? We need food to survive!" The creature cried out._

"_You will have to find that out yourself. Now get out of my sight and go back to where you belong." The ruler waved him away._

_The hairy animal lowered his head in a reluctant bow. His crooked teeth clenched. He raised his head and looked to the rest of his brethren. _

"_Return back underground. Arr-r-rrr--aar.." He muttered, ending it with a drawn out grunt. With an aching heart he went back to the stuffy air and the greasy machinery. His eyes burned brightly with fury. He could not afford to watch his family starve any longer. _

"_If those damned Elites will not help us. We will have to take control for ourselves." He snarled. _

"_Elites. So they are called. Eloiars more like it. They lie. Eloi."_

"Those Eloi." Billie muttered in his sleep, fidgeting his feet around his bedding. One of his siblings kneed him in the backside, annoyed by his whining.

Shadow cried out in his own sleep.

"_The baby is stuck. It's so-"_

"_It's so cold but it's-"_

"_Please don't-"_

"_Don't let them see."_

"_Fidget? Where are you going? Not ever! Not in front of me! Not in front of the children!" _

Katie grabbed his shoulder and shook him. His eyes snapped wide open and he hollered. The children joggled awake and stared wide-eyed at their father. His eyes were streaked with wet tears. He stared back at everybody and forced a smile.

"It was just a bad dream. Don't worry kids." He fell back on his moss bedding and covered his face. Katie wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I share your anguish." She kissed his face.

"I hate to sleep. It makes me feel so helpless." He breathed, wrapping his own arms around her.

"Maybe we should go outside for a spell."

"I guess so." He got up. His children had fallen back asleep. He guided Katie to the outside world. The clouds have since cleared out and the stars invited them. Shadow stretched out his back and inhaled the crisp air.

"Do you feel better now?" She crooned softly to him.

"Much." He gazed upon her with a gentle spark in his eyes. "It will take awhile till things get better."

Billie had not fallen asleep but followed not far behind his parents. His own dream disturbed him severely. The images of those strange crouching beasts, so akin to him yet so human. The other ones, the Eloi. What a strange dream to see them switched.

He dodged them and once again ventured out into the broad landscape. It brought an inner peace inside him to listen to the trees. He hummed to himself an old song he picked up from the Eloi. He enjoyed their singing. Often he wanted to join with them himself, he didn't carry that same beautiful voice. Only the pig-grunting howls of his father.

After a mile of walking alone he looked back. No, this wasn't far enough. He needed to keep going till he felt too tired to go on anymore. He walked on noiselessly, stooped over to avoid the branches of passing saplings and bushes. Out here he didn't feel frightened to be alone. He was the top predator on this planet. What was there to fear?

A few hours past and he could not scent home again. The land around him was new, the colony had never drifted this far. The sun started to creep around the tops of the mountains. His beastly instincts told him to flee for the darkness. Ignoring them he trailed on. This was just getting too good to turn back.

His keen nose could spot out a run-in cave if he really needed it. The sun was so huge, hovering over him with her beaming life. She stared down at this stranger, so out of place from the earth-drifters. As it moved to the highest point of the sky he felt his skin started to burn.

He quickened his pace and kept his nostrils flared for any scent of a hideaway. The centuries of Morlock digging left many vacant caves left behind. He discovered his luck as he found Eloi bones speckled about the open fields. They were splintered, grey and moss covered. It hinted they were very well aged. There was an old colony here at one point. Why didn't they see the Muumoo's? An unfortunate group that probably bypassed them. Then again he was probably easily twenty miles away from home by now. His large heart enabled him to keep going for long periods of time. He was not even close to being tired.

Eventually he came across a entrance to the under earth. It was caved in, leaving only a small opening to squeeze through. Being so heavily-built made it a chore just to get through the tightly packed rocks. Inside the air was stale and bitter. He took careful steps across the cool rocks.

"Ouch!" He blurted out, knocking his foot against something that projected out from the ground. He turned around and saw it was some sort of a bone. It was a leg bone, deeply lodged in the rock. A fossil. There was an assortment of bones all over the place. Some were probably hundreds of thousands of years old, some much younger. This place held a very ancient colony. The skulls he could not recognize. They had large teeth but not much like the ones of his own kind. He skittered across the maze of remnants and stepped up a series of boulders that seemed to form wide steps.

Deeper into the cavern he found artifacts of the past culture. Rusted pieces of machinery thrown about the ground, some fused against the walls. Here they created fascinating rust spills running down like the rock itself was shedding blood.

A few shiny rings were all about on the floor. They were not rusted like the other metals but gleamed like they were brand new. He picked them up and ran his thick fingers along the curves. Some were of different shapes. Probably some from different times? Formats? He looked inside the rings and noted dates etched in.

_Rings._ He heard of his father talk of them one time. To chance his luck he tilted the ring on its side and gave it a spin. To his amazement it lit up!

"_Hello? Hello, this is me talking. Well, Colonel Fernin. We have just moved down below in the caverns and we are now installing new types of machinery since it is hard to breathe down here with so many bodies. Everybody is finding it hard to adjust but it's much better than breathing in the death above. My son, dear son, decided to chance it above. I told him it was a bad idea but this I could not change."_

The ring clang to a stop and grew unresponsive. So his father was telling the truth. There were speaking rings! He picked up one after the other and gave them a try.

"_To keep a tab on happenings today I will note you that the people beneath have agreed to help us keep our ways above ground. Such foolish people. They had grown so cheerful about their works. Oh I am glad to be up here."_

"_UGH arg-ar this grow emberly and emberly and eeee. Who, what to eat. We shill compi with dee plans ehaps? Arrr-ggr. You hear di a o sss soon if yurr-rarer eeeee even should try. No more rr grrreoooiieoeoei. Ruuuuuuuaruruuu."_

"_For the first time in my life I decided to take a visit down below to the under world people, as we call them now. Rumors were very true. They had grown-ugly. They seem like those beasts they talk of in old children's tales. They seem to be growing cross with us. Damned things, can't even speak to them. One thing though, their eyes. Oh they are not human anymore. Their eyes-"_

"_Arrr-r-r-rgrrruuuuuung. ScreeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"_

"Queer." Billie said after he spun the last one. It was similar to his own language, only the slang was different. A deep sadness veiled over his heart again. These rings spoke of his past. His dream had some connection to this indeed. Still, what the rings spoke of confused him. The Eloi were so stupid. How could they be in control of the mighty Morlocks?

"The kings have fallen." He concluded with a nod. "What fools."

"As you are my good son." Somebody a few feet away snarled. Another Morlock! He had been too absorbed in the rings to notice the new smells. Billie backed up and stared hard into this stranger's eyes.

There were a few of them, all lean with protruding hips and ribs. The lead female was the one who responded to his voice.

"Well well another fat Morlock. Say where did you come from my boy?" She spoke in an eerie voice. The Morlocks didn't show any positive attitudes. They all concentrated on him as if he was a prey animal.

"A few hours from here." He whimpered, feeling vertebrae between his toes.

"What makes you venture here? Not such a wise idea at all." The Morlocks closed around him.

"I'm just a wanderer." He squinted his eyes and threw himself forward. Claws and teeth nicked him, trying to knock him down.

"Come back here you damned fool!" The female called out.

Billie didn't stop till he popped out from the opening. The Morlocks down below howled in dismay. He wasn't sure if they were just surprised to see another one of their kind there or if they were hungry. He didn't want to find out.

He shielded his eyes and made for the safety of the woods. He looked back to see if they would follow.

"Such cannibals I'm sure. I should move on quickly." He withdrew through the brush. Looking behind him every so often. Starving Morlocks were not ones to deal with lightly. One thing he found eminent in this part of the land. There were barely any fruits. No wonder the Morlocks were hungry. No Eloi were to be spotted. He wanted to help them but feared he would be the first course.

He put a few hours between them and himself. Now there was no chance they would catch him now. The air was so still here. No wind and few insects. Now he really wished he was in his mother's arms again like when he was just a pup.

"I'm probably the only one that wished he didn't grow up." He moped.

There was a sudden skitter in the leaves beside him. A flicker of white bounded off into the thick trees. Billie stopped and gaped towards the forms that stood lank and leggy before him.

Eloi, that's what they were. These were slightly taller then the ones back home. Their longs longer and so fine built. He could probably crush one with just a stomp of his foot. They all stared back at him with their immense eyes. Some jittering to each other.

These were probably the leftovers of the ancient colony. Now they roamed wild and learned the old ways of fear again. They were in Mother Nature's grasp now and she refined them into deer-like hominids.

Billie grunted at them. He knew he wasn't fast enough to catch any.

"I just want a friend. Even one friend would serve me well." He talked to them. They had to live someplace. He approached them. They scattered in all directions.

"That's it!" He had enough and gave chase. He would just follow their scent. He slowed himself to a rolling gait to keep from exhausting himself. He could just spot their tunics waving about in front of him.

He slid to a stop and gasped. A whole group of them stood before him, all glaring with gritting teeth. One leapt forward and before he even reacted the little man hung off his ear by his own teeth!

These Eloi attack! He winced from pain but didn't bat at the little Eloi, fearing he might just hurt him and set the rest off. He crouched down sideways from the sharp jerks of his ear. No he was wrong. The others all charged in full body and climbed over him. Fists and elbows aimed at his face while knees at his crotch.

He flung them all off with one sweep of his arms. The Eloi hanging off his ear stared back into this beast's eyes. Billie did as well, with a glazed look of wrath unveiled. He gave a mighty swing of his head, flinging the Eloi body through the air like a tooth pick.

The others backed away, picking up pieces of bones and throwing them at him. He roared and charged forward.

"So you think I'm a brute? Fine! I will show you!" He flung his arms out and clawed at the air before them. Again the Eloi scattered. This time he didn't bother to chase.

Bloody bite marks stung his mangled ear. Oh that damned Eloi. Billie kept going in the same direction, hoping there would be no more attacking beasts his way.

Part of him urged to stay, to follow their shadows and to gaze upon their beauty from the secrecy of the flowers. If only they accepted them. He would shield them from harm, from the horrible hail and rain. Again he was alone.

"Fine run! You are probably just brainless twits as well!"

The night was coming. As he went on he swore he could see glowing eyes stalking him. Those skinny cannibals are stalking him. How could they drift out this fast? He picked up speed, huffing as he went. His lungs were on fire. It dawned on him that he had not rested since daybreak. It would be a good idea to find a nibble to eat and a quick snooze.

The smell of blood wafted around him. _Eloi blood._

Billie followed his nose to the source. Surely it was those wild pack of Morlocks. Forward he stormed onto the scene with arms raised up. It was a lone Morlock with its hand inside the entrails of a dead Eloi. The feasting Morlock snorted loudly and withdrew a few feet in shock. They both studied each other.

This was a female Morlock and a healthy one at that. Further more she smelled like home.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I come from the same place you do." She answered shyly, moving back to her prey. "I followed you here."

Billie came closer with hair bristled. "Why?"

"Well you will have to figure that out for yourself stupid Billie." She sneered back at him.

He felt himself shake all over. A female of all things following him? They were like goddesses. Usually it was _males_ following females.

The halfling watched her eat, dwelling over his thoughts. This female was very stout and short. Her bangs fell close over her nose, just barely covering her eyes. It gave her an amusing appearance. Now he remembered this female. She was that loud mouthed one that wouldn't leave the males alone. They never really paid any attention to her. In a way she was also an outcast. He never understood why. She was a good example of her species, if not just shorter then average. She smelled fine too. Just a quirk of bad luck. Silly, even in these desperate times one still could manage to be picky.

"How did you even manage to follow me all this way? You can't go out in daylight."

"Hah those caverns follow longer than you know." She smiled with her blood-smeared lips. "Those awful bony Morlocks were a case."

"I think they wanted to eat me." He cringed, looking over the carcass. "I never ate Eloi before."

"Me either but it feels natural enough. Not as tasty though but decent." She picked between the ribs.

He was craving meat now just watching her. He knelt down and sliced a sliver off.

"I can't eat this it reminds me of my mother."

The female merely chuckled at this comment and rested in the grass nearby.

"Oh come on. Who knows when you will be able to pick over another meal." She scoffed.

"Well I'm not that hungry. I could use a good raspberry." He scanned the branches.

"Disgusting. I ate one once because I saw you eat one and whuff!"

"I'm glad I can enjoy both." He winced, placing the sliver of meat in his mouth. Eloi was gamey compared to Muumoo.

"I heard Morlock tasted really bad." She went on, picking through her hair.

"I would bet so. This tastes like crap." He spat out the flake of meat. "So what's your name?"

"Aura, pick on me for it and I'll leave a mark on your shoulder." She warned him.

"I think it's a beautiful name." He admitted, being very honest.


	6. Chapter 6 Aliens

**Chapter. 6 Aliens**

* * *

"I don't know where he went off to. His scent leads off very far." Fere frowned at his parents.

"Why would he just leave? His mother just came back with us and he had always wanted to be with her. Why the hell would he just leave?" Shadow shook his head, not understanding his son's sudden disappearance.

"Maybe he was distracted." Fere glanced off sideways. "I also picked up the scent of a female."

"A female? Why would a female follow him?" He leaned in.

"I don't know but there is a female's scent leading close behind his. I'm not surprised if this is a case of mutiny of the desperate lover. This isn't the first time I have heard of a case like this.

"But he was never in love with anybody! Except for maybe Favul but she didn't accept him."

"Well I don't know for sure. I only know there is a female lingering close behind him." Fere said finally.

"His mother feels she is responsible for his leave." He went on quietly.

"He loves his mother very much. I believe he was distracted by something else." Fere got up. "now I must return to check on my children."

Shikha and Katie became closer friends. It was great comfort to Katie to have another Eloi to help teach her the ways of the Morlocks. She learned how to speak to them and how to distinguish different scents. Shadow was also helping to teach her from his own knowledge he gained as well.

Katie was having a very difficult time with the high-pitched shrieks. Her vocal cords were just not built for the job. Shikha was in the same boat and taught her how to compensate.

"Luckily for us, female Morlocks rarely shriek. Males do more vocalizing than we do. Females mainly just make pitter and patter noises." Shikha lectured. "Also keep out of the way when the males work. They can be short-tempered."

"If anything I have a problem seeing where I go." Katie strained her eyes. "I can barely see three feet in front of me."

"Well in a few places there are shallow light places. I depend on smell and hearing to get my way around. It will take awhile for you as I grew up in darkness most of the time. It is not a good idea to light your way. It will only piss off the Morlocks." She chuckled. "Shadow seems to not mind going out in full-moon. Some Morlocks can and some hate it."

"Shadow was taught by Jones to deal with the spark of a flame. He doesn't like it but can deal with that as well."

"I would have never thought the Time Traveler would ever allow a Morlock to live with him." Shikha smiled.

"He never really cared for Shadow. Treated him like the other animals. Shadow was really smart about his ways. He would climb all over the house and through the windows to sneak stuff out for himself. It was real funny." Katie chuckled.

"He will be a good mate. He was very gentle with his first one. I feel bad she died. Nothing's worse than loosing a mate."

"Yes, I understand." Katie closed her eyes, blanking out her mind. "I'm glad I came out of solitude to be with him. I believe I might be pregnant again. I haven't told him yet. I'm afraid he will be very worried after what happened to Fidget."

"You will do fine. We will all watch after you. Fidget's child was all the way twisted and deformed. Fere told me that. It was extremely rare. If you are very worried you could always go back to your father and see what it looks like."

"I could do that. Jones has equipment. I could mention that to Shadow. He hasn't been back there since we left. We need to see him again before my father passes." Katie struggled with her grunts.

"Who will take care of the place after he is gone?"

"Jones will probably. He's still much younger then father."

"What about his time machine?"

"I have no idea what he has in store for that." Katie shivered. Father never allowed anybody around the machine. She has only had a glimpse of it a few times in her life.

A few Morlocks passed by, grumbling about their ways. Katie felt unsettled whenever they would stare at her. Their predatory eyes sizing her up like a lion his prey. She only had trust in Shadow. His bloodlust urges have all but vanished now that he led a normal lifestyle.

She and Shikha parted ways to check up on their children. Katie had a hard time getting the children to open up to her. This foreign creature was not one of their own kind and her mediocre attempts at their language strengthened the barrier. They would ignore her and just mope as usual.

Shadow seemed like the only one she could relate to. To him she spoke normal English since he understood. He spoke back to her in his grunting since his collar had broken off. It was a win on win situation. Every day when he would come back home she would cuddle in his arms. It brought back the meaning of home. It made her think of when they would both watch TV and sit close to one another.

Shadow and his constant jokes. That night as they went out to enjoy themselves her and Shadow went off again to talk of times past.

"Always tried to scare me during a horror flick." She brought up, giving him a fake glare.

"And scared you each and every time." He smirked. His kind didn't make such human expressions but he was a master at making them.

"Not really." She played along, poking his belly button.

"Your dad never let me watch flicks with the family for that reason. Weena is so easy to scare. Ha the bean and cheese dip. Oh man."

"Dad made you scrub that off the carpet." She giggled.

"I was about to just cut out that piece of carpet but nah. I think three lashes was enough."

"You remember-you remember the time you got drunk and danced naked on the rooftop?" Katie busted out laughing, frightening the nearby Eloi.

Shadow bent down below his knees and hollered with laughter. "Your dad was screaming at me and all the Eloi were just staring at me smiling all big. Big creepy smiles. I went back through your window and tried to rush back downstairs and there he was right there at the door. I slammed it back in his face and jumped out the window. Jones was just sitting there on the porch gawking at my butt cheeks. He didn't know what the fuck was going on."

"Good times." Katie wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sure he's glad I'm gone though. Like when I left." His smile disappeared. "So how did your dad ever find out about Billie? You never told me that one."

"I told him he had to wait until he was born."

"Oh jeez I can see his face now." Shadow did an imitation of a twisted scream.

"Ha he was shocked, kept cursing your name." She hugged close.

"Probably would have killed me personally with his hedge clippers. Cut off my balls maybe." He rubbed his groin.

"Jones couldn't stop talking about him. He was always dreaming about crossbreeding. Billie was the perfect example for him." She smiled. "Dad was about to punch him in the face if he didn't stop talking about how amazing the whole ordeal was."

"Yeah." Shadow frowned again. "I feel so bad I left just like that. If I didn't we would be one big happy family. I'm sorry I left. They wanted to do something cruel to me and other reasons."

"I cried when I heard you ran away." She cuddled him, not wanting to let go. "I found your note."

"I wanted to take you along really badly but since I was trying to find my own kind I didn't want to have you harmed. Still I-"

"I understand." She gave him a reassuring smile and pinched him.

* * *

Billie and Aura settled down for the day back inside the long road of caverns down below. They were a lot more elaborate than he suspected. There must have been a huge system of corridors and rooms down below.

"I believe our ancestors first came here to live." He looked on over the fossils. "There must have been an epic death down here. So many bones."

"What do you suppose killed them all?" Aura felt her skin crawl. She spun her head around here and there to make sure no starving Morlocks were close by.

"I don't know. Perhaps a fire?" He scanned the interiors. There was no signs of fire. "I guess since this place is so old. Just a collection of bones over time."

"Hmm I guess they didn't care to pick up after themselves." She sharpened her claws against the rough walls.

Billie peered down at his and flexed his fingers. He enjoyed showing off his long beauties. He grew them out just enough that they curved downwards and then sharpened off the edges. They looked like talons. She admired them.

"You know you are much stronger than you believe you are." She commented.

"No I am weak. I'm a loser. See my arm? It doesn't hurt as much anymore but I'll never be as strong as I was before." He held up his sore arm.

"Pssh you will be surprised how many come out with some really badass wounds. Look at you! You have bigger fangs and claws than most males I've seen. You're really big as well!"

Billie blushed, never having received such comments in his life before. "Than tell me? Why am I not back home with a cave and a mate?"

"You just lack ambition. You don't believe in yourself so it brought you down. Think of it as a lesson learned." She purred. "What was that old saying your father said before? Oh yes. You are a sheep in wolf's clothing."

Billie chuckled, his face hot. "I'm still a weakling."

"I never bothered to tell you but many females have talked about you." She turned her back.

"What? Please tell me." He pulled her back.

"Well the females always talked about how freakin nice your smell was and it was too bad you didn't have the guts to fight. Believe me if you had won a cave you would have had a line of females trying to get with you." She licked her teeth.

"Wow." Billie fell back on his butt. "You are telling the truth right? Not just trying to get me all flustered with flattery."

"No it's the truth. Females always talk about the bachelors and whom they want. You were the one they talked about the most. They found it a pity that you'd rather linger with Eloi." She smirked, picking the last pieces of meat from between her teeth with the tip of her nail.

"How did you guys know I wanted to hang around with Eloi? Never talked to anybody else really."

"Well it wasn't hard to see. You were always out there trying to get all acquainted with those brainless twits." She smiled.

"Not all of them are brainless, just frightened." He rebuffed, finding a decent slab of rock to sleep on. "I'll tell you one thing. Grass is better to sleep on than this. Too bad you can't even sit out in the shade."

"Unlike you, if I try to go above, all I see is blinding white." She pointed up at the ceiling.

"You tried going above?" He tucked his good arm under his chest.

"Yes, trying to stalk you." She looked away, trying to hide a snicker. "The light repels me. It burns something fierce and all I could see was white. Stung my eyes so I had to go back down. I never told the others as they think anybody dumb enough to do that is very foolish."

She plopped herself against his back and rested her head on his shoulder. Billie flinched, eyeing her curiously. She grunted at him and raised her hair. "I'm keeping watch on your blind side."

"No telling how many more of those beasts are down here." He grunted.

"Well there are two." She whispered.

"Where?" He stretched out his neck, blinking hard. He couldn't see or smell any hiding anywhere.

"Well right here."

Billie narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head. Aura liked being clever like that. She leaned over and nipped his neck. He shrunk away, afraid of this female's touch.

"Are you scared of me?"

"Not in that sense. I've had females snap at me before."

"Well you can touch me too." She offered. "I won't bite."

Billie sniffed at her, pushing his face into her neck. The smell of her was so alluring. He could fall asleep like this and never wake up. He wrapped an arm around her torso and laid his chin on her shoulder like she did before. Feeling content, Aura folded her arms in front of her and fell asleep that way. Billie fell into a light sleep, repeatedly waking up to keep watch over their own safety.

"What is that smell?" The half-breed stood up on his hind limbs and stared hard out into the vast open space of the cavern before him. Aura yawned and looked around.

"I don't smell anything." She responded.

Before them there was a whirling of soft light and flashes. His female follower turned her back and squealed in fright.

"Run! Whatever it is it must not be safe!" His instincts told him to flee. He grabbed Aura by the arm and they both ambled off as fast as their bowed legs could take them.

Behind them Billie could hear sharp noises of gibberish and clicking. He followed Aura through the caved in passages, barely able to fit himself. To his horror they came to a dead end.

"Turn back Aura." He cried, nudging her forward. She stood frozen, her eyes wide open. She was staring at something else behind them. The sharp scents of an alien life form stung his nose.

"Keep back whatever you are!" He looked around. These weren't Morlocks. They stood very upright and were very narrow-built. Their clothing was shiny and smooth. One of them held a long stick pointed at them.

Billie raised himself up from crouching position, mimicking their own stance. He waved his claws at them and bellowed out in warning.

WHIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The half-breed felt something like a bee-sting burning his flesh. He fell back and found some device deeply lodged into his arm. Before he could yank it out a powerful sleepiness overcame him. He sighed deeply and fell hard onto the rock ledge with a yelp. Aura screamed and pawed at him to get back up.

WHIZZZZZZZZZZZ

"EEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She screamed again, her back hitting the wall. "Am I going to die?"

Her lids felt like heavy-weights over her eyes. She leaned forward and collapsed on top of Billie. With the last of her strength she gripped onto his arm.


	7. Chapter 7 Behind Bars

**Chapter 7. Behind Bars

* * *

  
**

_"He's waking up."_

_"Good, keep those claws clamped until you transported them into their units."_

_"Yes sir."_

Billie gasped and convulsed as he started to come around. His eyes darted around, the world seemed to spin before him. His body twisted and he fell back over. Something warm pushed up against his back. For some reason one of his ears hurt.

"Arrreeerr ung ung creeerrer ruuuuu ruunnnnnn." He grunted, his chest heaving. The warm body he was feeling earlier was Aura, who was getting over the haziness in her head.

"Such ugly brutes." One of the aliens stood peering into the container they were held in. Billie peered back at him, only he couldn't see them. The Morlock pair were inside some type of "one-way" viewing glass. All Billie could see was this black wall. The outsiders could see them very well.

"Well we can't time travel on earth for awhile now. Almost used up our budget. These specimens better be worth it because they were damned expensive. Make sure you don't scare the shit out of them. They are worth more than you are." Another alien responded to his shipping partner.

"Ah well bring them over to the Evogenetic Center. They're expecting them so they have a unit ready."

Billie spread out his arms and legs and stood swaying. The ground was moving! An earthquake? Where was the sky!? He raised his head and howled. Aura punched him in the arm.

"Stop that. You'll make them hear." She snarled. The both of them looked rough.

"Sorry I couldn't help it." He lowered his head and snuggled close to her.

An opening suddenly appeared at one end of the black box. A dark environment stood out before them that they could see. Reluctantly Billie went first with Aura right behind him. There were layers of moss and rocks for them to hide behind. It didn't smell right here. It wasn't musty nor earthy but very clean and sterilized.

"Well what do we have here?' One of the keepers came forward just a few feet from the bars. "The papers say a male and a female. Well which is which? Ha. Oh I see, the green tag is female and the red is male."

Billie vaguely understood this alien. His father's collar often spoke this language and so he picked up on some words. His ear still hurt so badly! He reached up and felt something hard clamped around the lobe of his ear. It stuck out far from his bushy hair since his ears were so minute in size. Aura had one too. She was whimpering, pulling on it.

"Don't." He said calmly, licking it for her. There was dried blood. They must have been pierced not long ago.

Aura's heart was pounding fast. She couldn't take her eyes off of this strange creature. She hid her face in Billie's belly, a desperate attempt to hide. Billie chirped at her and brushed his fingers through her hair.

"It's amazing how our race turned into these animals. People always wanted to be wolves back then. Well now they are." His pencil scribbled across the papers and walked down the aisle. Billie waited until he heard the door shut to come forward. Aura hid behind the boulder supplied for them.

"What is this place?" He breathed. The place was full of cells rowed on either side all the way down the narrow path. Pipes and shiny machinery and walls. He saw figures looking at him in the other units. Their eyes glowed back like his. The room wasn't completely dark but some type of a dark light kept the place from being pitch black. Probably for the aliens.

"Are they going to kill us? Eat us?" He questioned out loud. Aura started to whimper again. She was balled up in the farthest corner of the cage.

Billie went back and held her close. He cooed to her and licked her cheek. "Don't be afraid. I won't let them hurt you. I promise you that. The aliens are gone so you can come sit up front with me."

Slowly he coaxed her out of the corner and to the barred gate. She pressed her face against it and observed her surroundings. Billie copied her, scanning each and every figure in the cages that he could see into. They were Morlocks too! Some looked different from one another. They too came forth to see the newest additions in this place.

He found some had five fingers, four fingers. Same with their toes. Some had strange faces too alike to his yet different. Some had lots of hair like him and some only a thin layer coating their bodies. Numbers were labeled on the bottoms of their units alongside with their scientific names. He knew what dates were and numbers also from his father's teaching.

Soon enough a theory dawned to him. They were his kind from every _era_. Most started to chatter loudly in languages he could barely understand.

"Eh you, silver-lock, what yuurr being called?" One across from his asked him.

Billie responded the best way he could. "Um I'm Billie, um half-Morlock."

"Halfie? Heheh don't let dee early timers hear dat one. Deh come over from time when we slaved. Loath dem Eloi." The male grinded his teeth against a bar of his own cage.

The half-breed could read under the male's unit that he lived about 30,000 years before his time period. He didn't look much different except he was less wrinkled about the face and extra top teeth.

"Where are the early ones?" Billie asked.

"Oh dem down farther that a-way." He pointed a fat finger down the rows past where they could not get a glimpse of the beings.

"Who are these aliens that caged us?"

"Oh? The dem being hooomans. We re-lated to dem. Says our ancestors moved to nother' big planet and dem earth sick. Dumb hooomans, no earth sick no more." The male chattered, clicking his big incisors. "Dem travels time I heard. On other planets and earth. Collects critters abound to keep n' zoos and stuff. Fancy them I guess."

"Really?" Billie's eyes widened. His own grandfather was a human time traveler. Maybe this is where he came from?

"Who that fine little lovingly beside you?" The male flirted at her. Aura furrowed her brow and screeched.

"She-" Billie started, searching his words carefully, "-is my mate."

"Oh. Me sorry." The male shied off for a moment, feeling embarrassed. Aura blushed deeply, keeping her gaze low. Billie smiled sheepishly.

"So why do they keep us here?" Billie kept questioning.

"Study us." The male said, looking back down towards the door. It opened, a few of these humans came through. Aura retreated back behind the boulder and remained quiet.

"So these are the new ones? Man these Morlocks get uglier each time period." The human man leaned in.

"I told you to get me good specimens." One man dressed in black said.

"What? Aren't these good? That female's hiding. I believe they are good enough." The man disputed.

"This one, the male, has deformed feet and blue eyes. Why is that? Morlocks have red eyes. This isn't a normal specimen!" The man in black argued.

"We are still running their DNA tests. Maybe he isn't pure-blood." The man informed.

"Then he is probably sterile. What luck that will bring me? I figured this was a breeding pair." The man went on.

"Well they are. Let's see first what the tests bring in."

"He has more pigment in his skin as well. Maybe he's a throwback? Or perhaps just some strange oddity. I don't know." The man scratched his head and headed down the isle.

The man in black stomped off, leaving the keepers to their selves.

"He's a goddamned whiner that's what. Too damned spoiled with all the creatures he has obtained."

"We already have cross-breeds that we've created. Anyways, it's time to feed." The place soon smelled of blood as the keepers tossed in meat for them. Body parts of Eloi and cattle.

"Eloi? They use them for food too?" Billie snuffed.

"Yeah some dem Morlocks can't stand dem other meats. Raise a few Eloi. Dem have Eloi here to study too em." The male turned around and snatched the meat just as it was lowered to him.

The dozen keepers crowed Billie's cage and watched. A live Eloi was dropped in. It spun around in circles and ran into the walls. Aura reverted her attention to the small prey. Her killing instincts turned on high power. Her eyes twinkled with bloodlust and she pounced after it. Billie only stood there to watch.

Aura's prowess surprised him. The once gentle and shy female turned into a total killing machine. She whipped out her arm, snagging the Eloi's ankle with the curve of her claws. The killing itself was not long. She slammed the Eloi on the ground and gripped the Eloi's neck between her jaws. With powerful pressure she crunched down, crushing the windpipe and the vertebrae. The keepers were all smiling and cheering at the sight. They did it for amusement.

The Eloi went limp as one last raspy breath escaped it. She gave it a wild shake, snapping the neck a few more times before dropping it.

"Such savagery!" One keeper remarked.

"Outta throw that damned professor in there too ha." The men around him chuckled, wiping their messy hands on their trousers. Some watched her rip open the Eloi and toss the guts around.

"I still have a hard time believing they are smart. Give them a fork and knife." One joked.

"Well at least they kill mercifully. Ever gave a live animal to those hyenas? I would rather be killed by one of these before those animals."

Billie stood silent, watching her feast. He was shocked. It made him think of his mother again. What if that could have been his dear mother? He couldn't eat this.

Aura crunched noisily on her meal, snapping bone and pulling stringy intestines out from the cavity. She looked up at Billie with a dripping face.

"Well come on and eat." She nudged the meal over to him.

"No I'm not eating that." He growled, turning his head away.

Aura glared at him. "You need to get over that and eat or you will starve. This isn't your mother or whatever goes through your head."

"Don't you know? I'm part Eloi. Makes me feel like a cannibal."

"You are a Morlock. Get over yourself." She scooted the rest away and secured herself a tasty leg to nibble on.

"I'm not a damn Morlock." He snorted.

"I'm not talking about your blood silly. You ARE a Morlock." She finally said and returned back to the other end of their cell.

"Whatever." He rolled over and piled some moss against the boulder for a thicker nest. Aura came to join him. Her bloody face disturbed him and he growled at her to stay away. Feeling offended she too returned the warning and flared up. He growled even louder.

"Asshole." She snarled again and charged him. Sinking her teeth into his shoulder to punish him, Aura expected him to snap. Instead Billie lowered his defenses and ceased threatening her. It wasn't in his mind to bite her back. A female attacking was a turn off. She shoved her way into his nest. Billie got up and moved away.

"Why are you bugging me?"

"Was hoping you'd share but I guess you are too greedy. Typical of prepubescent males." She mocked him.

"What? Oh fuck so I'm some skimpy little kid now am I? Want proof I'm an adult?" He grabbed his crotch area and squeezed. Aura laughed at his reaction. He turned red, feeling stupid and sat back down.

"You should clean my face." She leaned forward.

"Why?"

"It's what bucks do to ladies they like. It makes the ladies like them back." She batted her eyes.

"Are you flirting with me?" He waved his finger at her.

"You are so oblivious." She gave him a nip on the cheek. Billie wrinkled his nose and sneezed. Now he felt very flattered.

"You need to save yourself for some other guy. A real Morlock."

"Clean my face." She demanded, turning her head.

Billie gave in and started licking the blood from her entire face. It didn't taste bad really. He blushed and leaned back away from her.

"Okay I cleaned you up. Happy now?"

"Very much thank you." She gave him a nip on the shoulder. He winced, it was already sore. Being daring again she pounced on him and rubbed her nose against his.

Billie didn't know how to respond. He would feel bad shoving her off. He knew how it was like to not receive the affection he showered onto somebody else. He laid back against the boulder and closed his eyes, letting her play with him.

"Oh how cute. Look at those two." One of the keepers happened to walk in on the scene.

"It's always cute when it's two ugly things." Another one said. "I guess tomorrow we can begin to work with them. See how intelligent they are and go from there."

Aura gave them a wary glance typical of a wild animal and tried to hide herself behind his arm. Billie snorted a warning at them, bristling up. Now that he had this female looking up to him he had to look impressive.

"Hello there chap. Nice meeting you too. When you get to know me you won't be so mean." The man continued in a sweet tone. "And how about the sweet little lady too?"

Aura seemed to know the creature was directing that towards her by his eyes. She wiggled her nose at him and snorted. She couldn't help that her short stature and fluffy hair made her look harmless. She slowly approached the bars, stalking the man. He sat down and watched her. She pushed herself against the bars and took one in between her jaws. She reached out, clawing the air.

"Nosy little girl." He spoke to her. "I'm sorry but I'm not up for grabs."

Billie bristled his hair and approached them.

"Hello there big fellow."

The half-breed growled at his voice. He didn't like the fact that they were being treated like stupid animals.

"Stop that Aura. You only please him." He grumbled.

"I was trying to see if he would be dumb enough to come closer."

"He won't. They aren't that stupid." Billie sat back down in his nest.

"I want to bite his head off and pull it through the bars." She snarled, letting slobber dribble down her lips.

"Good luck with that." He ignored the man's chattering.

Aura snapped her jaws at the man again, throwing herself against the bars.

"Not a good idea to tease her."

"Oh she'll learn she can't get me." He got up and swept off his pants. "She has character I tell you that."

"The male's really mellow. I hope he'll be responsive to our training."

"Fuck you and your training." Billie snorted, able to decipher a few of the man's words.

"You understand him? What's training?" Aura turned to him.

"I understand a few words. They want to train us to do things. I don't know what." He told her, keeping an eye on the keepers. "They think we are stupid animals."

Aura sneered, showing the full length of her fangs. "Then lets play stupid for them. Like the Muumoo's."

"I don't want to play anything. I'm just going to sit on this and figure out how to get back home. My mother must miss me terribly." He sulked, his eyes watering.

"Oh you and your momma. Really I already was about to leave mine." She stuck her nose up at him.

"You may be tired of your parents but I am not. You don't know how my life went about."

"Well that was then. You have to just grow up and quit moping around just because of how your childhood went. It makes you weak." She snarled, tired of his constant bickering.

This struck him hard. He didn't want to admit it but she was right in some ways. Still, he wanted to just be with his family again. He ducked his head down in his folded arms and thought about them. About home and all the prancing Eloi and Tago's death. He wondered what those Eloi would do now that their leader was dead.


	8. Chapter 8 Spunky

**Chapter 8. Spunky

* * *

  
**

"Test one for today. Two timeline meet-up. Let's carry this out slowly boys." A man in a shiny black suit announced to the other workers.

Billie was shoved into a large containment room. Electric sticks prodded at his rear to make him leap forward. He threw back his head. The whites of his eyes flashing his bitter fright. There was another creature there, crouching quietly across from him.

The half-breed bristled up, lowering his body in pouncing position. The room was so quiet he could hear his own heart speeding up.

He stared at the creature before him. He struck him as something he had seen in a dream before. So alike him but so different.

"So. This is what I devolve in. Some stupid and very ugly beast. So sad to see the Eloi have their own ways." The creature spoke in almost perfect English save a few grunts.

"Quit insulting every creature that you meet Sanser." The man in black answered flatly. "Just communicate with him."

"Stupid? Far from it you fat-ass." Billie replied in his own animal tongue.

"Oh he SPEAKS." Sanser replied bitterly.

"What did he say?"

"Well he told me I was a fat-ass."

The workers chuckled. Sanser threw a fit and beat the ground with his arms. Then he neatly folded them up and refused to work with the men anymore.

"Okay guys this is serious work and costs us money. Get back to business. Sanser please cooperate. Just remember he is a devolved animal. Not nearly as intelligent as you."

The early Morlock, Sanser, needed to be flattered very much frequently to get him to do anything for them. He smiled and nodded, approving of the comment.

"Could get him a translating collar instead of doing this crap. Well since you understand English, strangely, then tell us about your Eloi? They taste good?" Sanser went on questioning Billie.

"We don't eat Eloi you fools. They just roam wild and mate with anybody." He rolled his eyes.

"Well? Translate as he goes Sanser. You are the only one who knows their language so well."

"He says they don't eat Eloi. They-um-screw them." He giggled and bit his fingers.

"Oh? Interesting." The man jotted down in his notes.

"So you and Eloi are peaceful? How? You should be taking revenge." Sanser started to ask him questions personal to himself.

Billie leaned forward, jeering. "Oh no! You should see my momma. She's all Eloi and daddy likes kissing her lots. Morlocks love Eloi very much yes. Some say they taste yummy down below."

"You stupid asshole! I hate Eloi! They ruin me! They all deserve to die!" Sanser pulled some of his own hair out.

"Sanser please! You are a grand boy. Don't let him put you down. You are so much more advanced than that beast. Now go on and keep asking questions and I will get you some bacon."

"So-um-what do you eat? I mean there is nothing on earth to really eat." Sanser repeated Billie's eye rolls. "Considering you fuck Eloi. Disgusting."

"No insults Sanser. You are more mature than he is."

"We eat Muumoo's. Some fat creature that makes moo noises." Billie went on.

"He says he eats cows." Sanser sneered. "Fucking cows. What the hell? We never had cows."

"Cows? But most creatures died out on earth long ago. Thanks to man's stupidity of his atomic wars." The man argued.

"Well he says they ate things that mooed." Sanser puffed out his chest.

"Ask him what made the Morlocks change their diet. Nothing reverts to other prey like that without some reason."

"Hmm we have his tests back Dr. Harden. They are very baffling. I had to recheck them many times but they are correct." A man in white appeared.

"Their DNA tests? Well purebred?"

"The female is pure but this male is just-"

"Tell me already. I'm sure it's nothing dramatic." Dr. Harden slammed his fist.

"Well he contains the blood of the Eloi and Morlock AND human." He handed the papers over.

"Well what do you mean human? They are both descended of man."

"No I mean it shows up very recently in his bloodlines. One of his parents must have been a hybrid of human blood."

"That's impossible. No creature in earth's existence ever consisted of three species. A fertile hybrid is hard to create as it is!" The man gasped.

"Well he is a very special hybrid. I want to check to see if he is fertile." The white coat informed. "Which I doubt highly. It doesn't hurt to check."

"But man has died out long ago on earth!" Dr. Harden flipped through the papers.

"That means we weren't alone on Earth. Do you suppose we left somebody behind?"

"You mean there is men breeding Morlocks and Eloi on Earth?"

"I don't know. But we must investigate this further. This would be amazing if he had been created artificially in our labs but naturally? That just disturbs me. Something is diluting the species down there." Dr. Harden handed the papers back. "Okay Sanser I have new questions for you to ask our dear hybrid."

In another room Aura was undergoing speech lessons. She was chained to the wall by a neck brace since she kept trying to pounce on everybody. Her teacher experimented to see if future man was even able to speak their language any longer.

"Can you say "love?" Say that word?" He held up a piece of chewy jerky in front of her.

Aura showed him her tongue and flashed her underside. He blocked his face and sighed heavily.

"No Firefly that's not what I mean of "love" silly. That's not very lady-like."

"Rooooooove." She finally answered. It came out rough and rusty.

"Yeah that's more like it. Good girl." He gave her the piece. She snapped it up quickly, just missing his fingers.

"I should feed you with a stick but I need to teach you manners." He wagged his finger at her. "If you are a good girl you wouldn't have to be chained up. I know you are smarter than that."

"Hraaaaaaaate…roooooo." She spelled out, biting a nail.

"What?"

"We got her tests back. She's full blood." The man in white passed by.

"Oh good. Okay now Firefly. Say cow." The man continued his work with her.

"Rwooo..croooo OWOWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She threw back her head and howled loudly. The distant sound of other Morlocks responding to her call echoed out across the lab.

"I guess that word is too hard." The man threw her a piece of jerky. She caught it in mid-air and tore it in junks.

"You are quite a spunky character. Just a maturing female so I suppose you have that teenage craziness going on through you." He reached over and patted her on the head just as she looked away.

In a flash she caught him by the sleeve, ripping part of it off.

"Good thing I get well-paid."

"Ruff ruff." She responded, clicking her teeth at him.

"I suppose our species just goes off the deep end eh? Well at least women don't have to worry about shaving for men anymore. I should get you a translating collar. I'll even make it pink for you."

"Hurrr..rurrrrrrruurr-r-r--r-oooooooorr-eeeeeeeeee-"

"No please don't that-"

"-eerrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Ack! Stop that." The man jammed his fingers in his ears. Aura pointed at him and giggled. She sounded very close to a pig.

"Yeah very funny. That reminds me. Now smile for me? Eh? Can you do this?" He gave her a broad smile. She opened her mouth wide, exposing all her teeth. Her expression looked more satanic than a sweet smile. She threw her head back and sneezed.

"Well I guess since you live in the dark there is no need for facial expressions," he bent over to wipe the monster snot from his jacket, "or looks for that matter."

"Froopiezz." She reached out at him, slicing her claws in the air.

"Oh you want fruit loops? You know the others don't like those too much." He gave her a tiny box, which she promptly ripped to pieces. Colorful loops flew everywhere. She bent over and picked them up with her sticky tongue. Again the man reached over and rubbed his hand over her shoulder, getting her used to being touched.

She snarled at him, showing the whites of her eyes. He withdrew and pressed his fingers against her big ones. She snapped it back and clipped her teeth at him.

"Oh now be nice. It's just my way of saying I want to be friends." He smiled. "I know you don't like other males touching you but you live here now."

Aura continued to snarl as he talked, arguing with him in her own way. He backed away and sat back down in his spot. She fanned out the hair on her backside and snorted.

Later on her and Billie were finished for the evening and were placed back into their unit. Aura pounced on him, prickling her teeth against his neck.

"So what did they do to you? That man tortured me. Trying to get me to say stupid words. But I like those froopies"

"Questions and more questions. Had some ugly thing they called a Morlock translate for me. I wanted to carve my teeth on his backside." Billie growled in return. "What's that on your neck?"

"Oh that's some collar he put on me." She scratched at it. Some other gibberish echoed out from it.

"It speaks their words." Billie poked at it.

"Yeah I tried to bite his hand when he put it on me but somebody else put a roll of cloth in my mouth. Mishandling me." She gave him a pouty face and pushed herself into his arms.

"I'm not any better off." He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.

"I miss home now. These creatures act like they are better. They can't even see in the dark and their sense of smell is bad." She grumbled, pressing tightly against him.

The next morning Sanser was given freedom to walk about in the containment area. He was a long time captive there and was trusted to keep around if he was free to roam. Being an honest Morlock he kept to their word.

He spied inside Billie's unit and clucked at the female, trying to gain her attention.

"Hello! I'm Sanser. I know you are not much to look at but you smell so nice. Want to come over and let me nibble on you?" He pressed his nose in between the bars.

Billie felt his hair stand on end. Aura threw him a glance. She liked playing hard to get and decided to tease Billie. She giggled and flickered her tongue out at Sanser. Then approaching him and backing off again.

"Piss off fleabag. You are a poor excuse for our kind. Come on you don't even have any nice hair." The half-breed snarled. Sanser beat his fists against the bars and threatened him. Billie charged forward, flashing his mighty tusks. He cut them across Sanser's forehead, throwing him back.

Sanser had no such tusks. He still had the teeth of his human ancestors. The sudden flash of long teeth frightened him and he ran off crying. Aura squealed at Billie, proud to see him fight just for her. He pressed his weight on her and punished her with the clip of his teeth. She rolled over and grabbed his arms.

"Well you know I'm still single." She licked his mouth. "Guys gonna keep going at me."

"I doubt Sanser works that way."

Never less, she walked back behind the boulder on her hands and knees. Her head poked out from behind and she winked. She was like a magnet and Billie could feel the force of her scent tugging him forward. He followed after her.

Sanser ran around in circles at the end of the containment center, tossing moss about. He screeched loudly and threatened the other Morlocks in their units.

"What's going on Sanser? Stop throwing tantrums." His trainer came forth.

"That dirty ugly beast down there won't let me touch that ugly girl! I want that girl!" He pointed down the aisle.

"No that's his mate. You can't have a mated female."

"Ugh you all suck! I want some bacon. I demand bacon!" Sanser roared.

"Calm down and I will get you bacon. Calm now?" His trainer waited till the fat Morlock stopped sulking.

Billie felt like a changed male after he bred Aura. He leapt out from behind their hiding place and starting hooting his head off. He waved his arms around and stomped his feet. His mate came to join him. When his handler came to check out the problem he threw himself against the bars and roared.

The pair danced around each other and waved their arms in a courtship ritual. The keeper tapped a stick against the bars and shouted.

"Now you two calm down!"

"It's just a mating ritual. They won't calm down. Just let them tire out."

The surrounding Morlocks complained of the noise. Soon the entire area was filled with the hollering and howls of Morlock calls.

The keepers tossed in sides of beef. The beasts quiet down and tore at their meals.

Aura and Billie picked the bits of flesh from each other's hair after they finished. They mated several more times, further angering Sanser.

Aura got tired of him to the point she darted over and yanked his hair through the bars. With her claws she ripped out chunks and scratched his arms. He yelped and cried out for help.

"Damn it Sanser. Leave her alone!" The keeper ran over with a cattle prod and poked Aura with it. She squealed, feeling her stung hand. Billie roared, showing his full threat display at the keeper.

"Calm down you two. I don't need anymore fights. Now Sanser if you continue to do this I will give you no more bacon."

"Damned bitch." Sanser pulled up her nose and wiped his wet eyes.

Aura showed him the whites of her eyes in warning. Billie picked up a bone and aimed for the Morlock's head.

"Say that again pansy and I'll tie your dick around your throat."

"Oh is that a promise?"

"Don't act so big my friend as my puny mate just kicked your ass." He snorted.

Sanser squealed, throwing his arms up in the air and ran off.

"You crack me up." Aura panted, wrapping her arms around him.


	9. Chapter 9 Tusker

**Chapter 9. Tusker

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**

Aura grew more open towards her trainers and even more obnoxious about her manners. Being a very observant creature, she soon learned what a modest species humans were. She made it a game to suddenly flash her underside at them whenever they wouldn't leave her alone. They would always make disgusted noises and look away. She enjoyed this reaction.

To counteract this game, her trainers decided to give her underwear. She liked trying out new things to wear on herself. Billie scolded her a few times himself.

"You should just do what they tell you. They just want to teach you things." He snorted, pinched her elbow.

"I can't stand them. They are so strange about their ways. Why do they cover themselves up so much? They look like us underneath I'm sure." She rolled in his lap.

"It's just the way they are. Be happy they don't dress us up."

Meanwhile the pair chattered, Sanser was leading a woman trainer down past the units. Billie barked a few insults at him as they passed on by. Sanser cranked up his chin and strutted past.

"I don't need you to lead me anymore. Thank you Sanser." The woman said, feeding him a piece of dog treat. Sanser snuffled loudly and planted his eyes on her rear as she walked on. He had a habit of skimming over females in that fashion.

Billie's and Aura's trainers soon came to fetch for them. Aura stuck her face against the metal bars and chirped sweetly to them.

"Where-are-we-going-today?" Her collar translated to them.

"You two are going to be reintroduced to the colony." Her trainer answered, his cattle prod ready. Aura paddled out with her arms hung low. Billie followed right behind her, holding himself higher to protect her.

A huge locked door with a heavy fenced in gate barricaded the entrance. There was a sign engraved into the door. Billie could read but lacked the correct vision for it. His eyes strained on the bold letters.

**Restricted Area. **

**Subterranean hominoid containment.**

**Authorized handlers only. **

The large area they were put into looked no different than the real world outside. There were bushes and trees scattered everywhere. It was night inside this colony containment. Aura marveled at the pretty stars but Billie figured it was just an artificial night sky.

"Are they safe to go in with?" The woman they saw earlier stood at the entrance.

"Yes they are. But watch out for Firefly. She is somewhat ill-mannered." The trainer gave her a cattle prod and a flash light. She pulled on her night goggles and entered with the two new editions.

Before them in the brush were about a dozen pairs of eyes staring out at them. Billie halted and drew in a sharp breath. These strange Morlocks came out to meet them. All bristled and sniffing each others faces. Aura screeched at them and hid behind Billie.

He stared up at all of them. These Morlocks were huge and different. They all greeted the pair with a laid back and happy introduction. Again, Aura was the shortest Morlock of them all.

It didn't take long for Billie to find out all these Morlocks were very tame. Most had been captured and hand-raised very young in this place. They only grew big because of their diets and lack of hard-ship that was normal with their wild brothers.

The biggest one was easily seven foot. But he wasn't really just tall but broad all over. His head alone was enormous and frightened both Billie and his mate. He could stick their heads in his mouth and crunch down if he wanted to. He was a very well-fed and groomed male. His hair was fluffy and shimmering white. His skin was scar-free and smooth.

Aura stared out at this monster from under Billie's arm. Right away her mate sorted himself in their pecking order. Despite being at the bottom at his colony he easily impressed the others to prove himself at top. They were a soft bunch that could easily be intimidated. Even the mammoth-sized Morlock crouched down when Billie slashed at his shoulder.

Aura strutted around with her back hair raised, sorting herself out among the others as well. She couldn't withdraw the scent of the huge male from her nose. He was strikingly familiar to her in ways she couldn't understand. She grabbed the male by the arm and growled at him.

"I'm not doing anything." He whimpered, lowering his head.

"You sure are a pussy I can give you that." She snarled, planting her claws into his neck. She breathed in his scent some more. "It disturbs me how similar your smell is."

"I remember you." He blinked, lifting up his face. "I remember you. I know now who you are."

"I wish I did. How would we know each other? You never lived in our colony."

"I did before. Sister, Aura." The male spoke with more confidence.

"Brother?" She dug deep inside her memories. "But how? Is that you Tusker?"

"You remember me." He smiled lightly.

Now she did remember him and it disturbed her even more. He was like a ghost back from the dead. She had a few older siblings and one of them was an older brother called Tusker. She was just two years old then when he turned five. He had suddenly vanished one night when they went out to explore in the woods. There was only a trail of his scent leading into the woods and suddenly ending out of no where as if something had picked him off and flew away. Her parents never went near that patch of the woods again. Had they been that near to her colony so many years before?

"I am very surprised to see you here as well sister." His eyes glowed softly. "I was so frightened when they captured me. I am still scared."

"You are so damned huge." She answered, backing away from his large head. "Like those dinosaurs that was in one of those books."

"Well you are very small." He crouched down, trying to appear shorter.

Billie was getting to know the other members. There were three mated pairs, four adolescents and two bachelor males. All of them were very tame and not very aggressive with each other. This small colony felt more well-suited for him than his much more aggressive family members. He calmed down and no longer attempted to attack them.

Once again the woman that had followed them in earlier showed up. She was greeted with grunts from the others. The huge male stomped over, his posture in attack mode. The woman spun around and made that strange squealing noise. The male suddenly went down on his knees and rolled over on his back. The ground seemed to vibrate under his sudden collapse. The woman bent down and ruffled her fingers through his hair.

"That's my good boy!" She cooed at him in babyish talk. Billie snorted at the male's reaction. He was like a giant baby. He may not be stunted in size but surely in mind. It was no wonder the male was such an underdog and a bachelor. He probably thought of himself as a child. For once in his life Billie didn't feel sorry for himself anymore.

All of these Morlocks struck him as bizarre. The way they greeted him. The way they greeted their trainers was all done in an extremely childish manner. If only all of them really knew how it was to lead a life in the wild. This giant beast before him had more than enough strength to kill that over-powering woman that stood only at his belly. No, this nearly one ton beast would rather cower at everybody's feet.

"He's so dumb." Aura growled. She paddled forward towards the woman and pulled at the bag on her back. The smell of her favorite cereal was a lure. The woman yelped and batted her hands away.

The huge male roared in defense and made a mock charge at her. His sudden poof of white hair made Aura flip over backwards. Billie charged at him and clawed his arms. The two separated, staring at each other with bristled manes before the bigger male backed away.

A bright flash of light hit Billie on the face. The woman had pulled out her flashlight to warn him back. Aura spun off in another direction, shrieking in anger. Billie had more tolerant eyes and only backed off to chase after his mate. Tusker, the huge male, simply raised up his head and squinted his eyes closed.

"Now no fighting." She scolded them all. "Did you get hurt? Aww you got scratched."

Tusker peered down at his arm. The blood stained his white hair a deep red. He went back down on his knees and whimpered loudly to her. She went over and started to clean his wound with a paper towel. He purred loudly and closed his eyes as she radiated all her attention on him.

Aura was still stomping around and throwing a fit. She raised up her arms and hooted loudly. She threw back her head and screeched as loud as she could. The others copied her reaction and soon the whole area was full of high-pitched shrieking. The woman clamped her hands over her ears, unable to withstand the sounds. Tusker roared at them, throwing his heavy body in their direction. They fled in scattered directions.

"If you were any closer you could have blown them away with your own breath." The woman teased him, poking her finger into his belly button.

Tusker was a unique specimen to her. He was not captured by the Evogenetic Center but by a group that had obtained a time machine illegally. They had captured Tusker and abused him to be a dancing attraction for secret sideshows in the alleys. He was beaten to submission but eventually he couldn't take it anymore and would revolt against them when they cued him to jig. Fortunately her father found out and had them arrested. Only special laboratories with licenses could contain Morlocks. It was illegal for zoos and ordinary citizens to have them.

It took many years for Tusker to soften towards people again. He grew very close the woman called Alana, whom took her role as trainer for him. It was custom for male trainers to work with female Morlocks and vice versa. It kept the males from attacking them as it was their nature not to harm the opposite sex. Tusker could never work with a man again. He hated man with all his heart and would attack without warning. It was only Alana he would work with. Eventually he stopped dancing frantically at the sight of them.

Tusker was given his name because he sported two pairs of tusks on the top jaw instead of the normal one. An uncommon mutation among his species. This and his size alone kept the others at bay.

He stood guarding her jealously as she opened up her backpack. She pulled out a box of cereal and fed it to him by hand. He bent over and picked up the colorful pieces with his sticky saliva. Aura snorted at them, smelling the fruit loops she was so fond of.

"I wish to have some. Damned pig. I bet he'd eat the box too."

Her brother munched loudly on the sweet cereal, rolling his eyes at her. Aura crawled closer, hoping some of it would roll her way.

There was a loud bang in the background and random light. Out of the confusion scrambled a few goats. It was feeding time for the colony. Alana stepped back and sat on top of a nearby stone for safety. The Morlocks all turned towards the small animals and promptly attacked.

Alana had studied their hunting behaviors for years. She found them creepy in their stealthy ways of catching a meal. Their short legs prevented them from chasing their prey. So they resorted to stalking and such masters they were at it.

The boss would sometimes bring his wife or children over for a visit. They always wanted to see the Morlocks. These ugly descendents of their human kind. They mocked at how hideous and fat they were. Clumsy on their bowed legs and their crouching figures, these beasts made an example of what the human race revolted.

Of course, she knew, they were wrong. True, they were very easy keepers when it came to gaining weight. The Morlocks were only fed once a week. No fatty meats allowed. One could say they could gain weight just by breathing air. They had to be worked daily and kept occupied. She had seen the damage done to Tusker being kept locked inside a cage without any stimulation.

These creatures were highly modified killers. They stalked their prey with such precision that the prey didn't even know they were there. Not until they felt the teeth or claws in the back of their necks. Already it was too late then. She had been stalked herself many times. Tusker enjoyed playing the game of "prey and predator" with her. He had been successful at just about every chance he stalked her. Not a breath or rustle of the grass could be heard. Only a sudden roar from behind and the fluff of white hair. He would cover her face with licks.

The killing itself was done very quickly and clean. A snap of the neck before the prey knew it was lights out. It was probably not a bad way to go. Only the inexperienced Morlocks had a bad time of getting the job done. There was an instance a few years back in the lab when one of the young carnivores had attacked a trainer. The monster had grabbed the skin of his face and jerked it clean off. Then gutted him, eating the intestines as the man screamed.

The warped beast was quickly shot down. No Morlock that feasted on the flesh of man was kept. Once they turned that was it. They knew man was prey and an easy one at that.

That was a golden rule when it came to being a trainer. _Never ever let your guard down._

It was always all eyes on them. No cowering and no abusive methods. The beasts were more complex than most would imagine them to be. They were deep-minded and were as difficult to understand as a computer to a person who didn't even know how to turn one on. If there was a problem, it always took a long time to get to the root of it. The translating collars often spouted off the wrong words. Their language was somewhat complex and hard to grasp.

Alana attempted to learn some of the common grunts she heard them use. When she attempted to speak to them she only found them confused or insulted. She probably used the wrong tone of voice or level of pitch. It could be anything. One had to be raised with them to get any understanding.

They were not like people. They were very smart but the uprising carnivorous instincts inside them would sidetrack their intelligent side very often. It made them unpredictable and the reasons why they were kept in units. Except for Sanser, only because he was closer to his human ancestors than Tusker was.

She came to understand their body language. It was limited and extremely exaggerated. As they lived in complete darkness most of the time it would be hard to get ones attention by subtle gestures. The courting dances were silly to watch. Their hair would fan out like a cat for a number of reasons. The swaggering walk down in frustration. The rolling eyes in warning of anger. Probably the most frightening of all was the bloodlust stare. The bulging, flashing white eyes with exposed tusks.

Tusker would only give this to the male workers. He would purr and whimper at the females, mainly only to her. It largely depended on how they smelled. The smell alone told them everything about you. How old you were, how healthy, your attitude. The body scent was like an open book to them. Tusker largely detested the smell of a woman menstruating. He would simply avoid them in a rude fashion. However, if she was ovulating, that was another show.

Alana attempted to teach him manners when greeting such women. Nobody wants a large "dog" trying to hump your leg. It was very difficult as such smell reactions were so heavily ingrained in his memory.

Overall she preferred to work with them rather than other people. They did not judge by looks but smell. They rarely lied and preferred to be your friend. It took many years to become a master trainer. The students were quickly weeded out in the beginning. They had to learn that one could not boss a Morlock around. The beasts had learned from their ancestors the hard way and now nobody could make one a slave without consequences.

Her father would remind them. Think of horses, our beasts of burden. These are not horses. They are zebras.

They had to learn not to be the slave of the Morlock either. Nobody wanted fangs in their backs every time they came to greet their albino relatives. If you gained enough respect as in Alana's case, you might just have the beast bow down before your every whim. You had to bond with them for them to bond back. You had to become part of the colony. Unlike their Eloi cousins, they were largely suspicious for a long time.

All of the Morlocks were sorted out by their time period. Each had their own instincts set to what they largely lived by in that time. Sanser was referred to as a "Proto-Morlock." He had the basic heavy-boned shape of his later descendants. Pale skin and more hair growth. Everything else was still basically human. He still was clumsy in the dark but more adept to it than modern man. He could speak English with hardly any difficulties. Not many of the Morlocks liked him. Even the gentle Tusker would bombard him with punches to shoo him away from his lovely trainer.

Tusker and Aura were considered "Late-Morlocks" as their species and the Eloi began to interbreed at their time period. Billie was considered a "Post-Morlock." Though the opinions differed to the scientists. To some he was no more than a hybrid. To the others he was considered the end of the Morlock/Eloi age and the coming of a new era to the humanoid species. It would take several million years till both species would entirely integrate. The breeding of hybrids was difficult. In Billie's case it was found out he was sterile.

To him this was a big blow. His line would end with him. The fight for a mate was futile in the end. Though that's what his friends back home would say. He was happy enough to have a mate standing by his side. Aura on the other hand didn't care. She wouldn't care to be a mother.

"You are still young now but someday you will want a child. I can not give you one." He told her, feeling horrible.

"I just want you. I love you and I always will." She reassured him.

Tusker didn't have the thoughts of children linger in mind. He was too indulged with Alana to care about matehood and such fatherly duties. He only wanted her attention and would grow possessive if she paid attention the other Morlocks or those evil men.

He would disrupt their conversations with loud howls and beating his fists against the bars. He was moved in with the colony because the units brought about his dangerous behavior. They reminded him of the cages the zoo would put him into. He loathed anything with bars. Anything that was small and boxy. He would grow wary and believe he was about to relive the same dark life again.

Alana picked up the shredded box after he finished slobbering all over the rest of the crumbs and gave it to one of the females who loved chewing on cardboard.

Tusker tilted back and belched loudly. His trainer rubbed his large stomach.

"Good thing I can't devour that much."


	10. Chapter 10 Home

**Chapter 10. Home

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**

_"I could care less about your family. You are just a worker like many of your other kind. It doesn't matter if some of you die. There will always be plenty to fill your spot."_

_"You-rrrr are a heartless creature. You may lookin' handsome but in de' end that holdin' very little importance."_

_"Oh? Well then why am I on top and enjoying luxury and you below me working in filth? Ha! Go back to where you came from worker."_

_"Me not named worker. Sanser is my name."_

_"I could care less really. You all look the same. Now go back or I will have the guards shoot you where you stand."_

The early Morlock grumbled in his sleep, flipping around in his cot. To Billie and Aura this place was nothing to compared to home. To Sanser it was paradise. He had lived in a period where the "Elites" had taken advantage of their relatives down below. They enslaved them and nicknamed them "Morlock."

His family always faced the constant fear of starvation or suffocation. Their own home was a cage. Their skin and eyes had become too sensitive to go out above for very long. Even the world above seemed to shun them along with the Elites.

For the Morlocks they had nicknamed them the "Eloi." To them it was something of a slang term, an insult. How they hated those beautiful people up above. They had been kind to help them and in return they were taken advantage of.

Sanser didn't know a day of rest. Everyday he worked. Starting out when he had the strength to pull himself up on his feet the first time he had put his meager strength to use.

On his way back from a visit above he was stunned by a bright light. Then a burning sensation hit his neck and lights out. He had awoken here with his life turned around.

Here he got respect. It was unheard of to receive such honor. He made sure they treated him with the utmost kindness to every request. The day he found himself in this new place was the day he made a new vow. No longer will he be a slave. If they wanted something they will beg for it.

He could hear Billie and Aura creating a racket again with their calls. Rarely did he ever participate in them. Most of the sounds he could not convey as his throat was not evolved enough for it. He left his cot and ventured out through the hallways. Often he tried to crack inside the vending machines. If he was lucky enough to steal the keys he would steal as much as he could possible and stash it away where nobody but him knew.

Then Tusker suddenly appeared from nowhere around the bend of the hallways. Blood splattered across his chest and his mouth dripping. Sanser dived out of the way just as the lumbering beast trampled through. There were screams and yelling in the direction he had come from.

The smell of the blood was that of a human. He knew what had happened and what was to fold out. He heard more shouting as men with guns shot past him. Sanser clutched his head and rolled into a ball.

"No do not harm him!" Alana blocked the armed men with outspread arms. Tusker was cowering behind her, whimpering loudly. His hairy arms smearing blood across the walls.

"Move Dr. Floyd. He killed a man! We can not keep such specimens here." The man nodded his gun off to the side.

"He teased Tusker. Anybody here knows better than to tease him. Especially a man!"

"Regardless of what happened, he is a danger to everybody here."

Sanser folded up his legs to his stomach and felt his breath cease. Dr. Harden jogged by, his black coat waving out behind him. Silent words passed between him and the men.

"Tranq him and we will see what is done. He will have to be put down Alana. I am sorry but we just can't handle him any longer. You can either pick him being shot down here or euthanasia later."

Alana dropped her eyes to the floor and turned to Tusker. She patted his head and offered for the tranq.

Billie and Aura fell silent. Their heads tilted towards the turmoil. Aura, in utter excitement, climbed up on top of the boulder and started to howl.

"What will happen to him?" Billie asked the male across from him.

"Man killer. He be put to death of course." The male lounged across his bedding, arms folded back.

"That man did tease him. I saw it. He popped Tusker across the face with the cattle prod on purpose. I think he always hated him."

"Well humans are deceitful and horrible monsters." Aura called out from above. "They lock us up here and treat us like stupid animals! I say we all revolt!"

"Don't be so damned foolish!" Billie snarled at her. "Get down from that rock! You are the last one I want to loose."

Aura slid off and hugged him. Billie grabbed the nap of her neck with his teeth and shook her firmly. She rolled over in submission and purred. Nothing turned her on more than him throwing a temper.

"Dey could kills us all if dey wanted to." The male said. "I never been hard t' handle. I always been good t' everybody. Course I been here fer' twenty years so I supposing' dey don't worry about me."

Sanser, being a typical spy, stood observing the drugged giant from a safe distance. Tusker's eyes were rolled back and his breathing was shallow. Foamy spit dribbled from the corners of his mouth.

"Sure put him out didn't ya?" One of the men poked Tusker's shoulder with a prod. The Morlock's head only twitched, causing more drool to drop down on his filthy chest.

"Well just to be safe. I've seen them suddenly snap out of it before if not drugged enough. Don't want to see this asshole go on a rampage."

"Well. I don't see the point of wasting drugs on him. We should just put him out right here while he doesn't know. It's the humane way."

"Not until we get word."

Sanser snorted and lumbered back over to the lab. He spotted the doctors talking to each other. It seemed more like arguing.

"Always being nosy I see." He heard a female voice. It was Alana.

"Ohh hello pretty." He grinned, showing his enlarged canines. "You cry I see."

"You already know why. Not that you don't care. You hate just about everybody that doesn't kiss your ass."

"Already mean to handsome Sanser? Pity, pity." He folded his arms and smiled at her. "I was just thinking of helping you my lovely."

"Ha-ha very nice Sanser. This is no time for jokes."

"Oh no, no. I know ways and passwords for the time machine. You leave with Tusker and others yeah? To other times on earth."

Alana almost stopped breathing. That idea had never crossed her mind but it seemed too far-fetched. She looked hard into his blood-shot eyes. Right now to save Tusker's life she was willing to do just about anything.

"I don't see why you would want to help me Sanser. I was never really that nice to you and Tusker hates you. You hate every Morlock here."

"Oh but I always think you are nice looking. I make deal eh?" He picked up his heavy arms and rubbed his hands together.

"What sort of a deal?" She leaned back.

"You give me the secret key to food place and a kissy." He nibbled his fingers, turning red.

Alana screwed her face at him. "Well I suppose it is not a bad deal. So when do you want that-ugh-kiss?"

"Now! I want it now." He looked around and squirmed in delight. She leaned forward and closed her eyes. She aimed for his forehead, it was at leas the cleanest part of him she hoped.

"Oh no." He pulled her face down and planted his lips on her mouth. It was the foulest thing she had ever done in her life. She pulled apart from him after those too-long seconds of lip-squelching. Her mouth tasted of rotten flesh and burritos.

"Ugh that was-" she held her last words, not wanting to upset him. She needed this deal and needed him, "great!"

"I am a very good kisser. I give other Morlock chicks nice kisses." He stretched forth his hand. "Food place keys!"

"Fine here you go." She dropped them in his fat hand. "Now please, your end of the deal."

"Oh yes!" His face turned bright red as he left. "I kissed a nice pretty girl who liked it. I shall brag about it."

"Oh God." She sighed, heading back towards the Morlock units. Along the way she picked up a few needy things. It was a good idea to plan ahead. Billie and Aura came to mind. They both came from the same time period as Tusker, perhaps they could help out. She came to their single enclosure, wrapping her hands around the bars.

"Hello you two. Wake up." She clicked at them with her tongue. Billie's head rose up, blinking his sleepy eyes at her. Aura continued to snore, her face against his chest.

"Get up now!" She unlocked the door. Aura twisted around, eyeing her warily.

"I need the both of you. Want to go back home? You remember home? I will bring you there." She bribed them out of their slumber.

Billie got up and shook himself. "I guess we are going back now. I suppose they only keep us temporarily."

"I suppose. Let's get out of here." She stood at Alana's side, waiting impatiently to return to her familiar world. She pulled at the woman's dress, hooting to make her move.

"No time for your antics Firefly. We got to be quick about this." Alana pulled the hem of her clothing away. Billie groaned loudly, heaving himself out the stuffy unit. All the Morlocks watched on silently.

"Goodbye silver-lock. Have good time in your time." The male waved. The two Morlocks hurried after the woman, whom was starting to pick up speed.

They trailed behind her, sneaking around corners and corridors. They had no clue on why she was moving so secretly but Billie suspected it was best to keep quit.

Sanser was waiting at the door. Alana led the two in and came back out.

"I will fetch Tusker. Keep the door closed while I'm gone so nobody will notice."

She skidded back around the corner, running in her tight skirt. She found him guarded by two men with tasers. The Morlocks eyes rolled back. With him being so easy to handle there was no need for a gun.

"Hello gentlemen. I wanted to give my poor boy one last hug before I say goodbye to him." Fake tears wetted her cheeks as she pleaded. The men frowned, hating seeing such a lovely woman being so down about this. They looked back at the heavily drugged Morlock and nodded. "Okay."

She cooed to Tusker, grasping for the needle in her pocket. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Slowly she unsheathed the needle and slid it deep inside his neck. He barely flinched, only pulled away. Quickly she squeezed the syringe and backed off.

"See you guys." She flattened her smile, watching Tusker's muscles start to jolt. With a sudden new burst of adrenaline he threw back his head and flung himself forward. The men's eyes nearly popped from their heads as a voice suddenly roared from behind them. They turned towards the agitated Morlock. The beasts colossal hands met them with a full swipe across their faces.

Tusker was wide awake but still not himself. He bucked around with his eyes bulging. Alana placed herself in viewing distance, wanting him to see her. She was using herself as bait. She knew well that the beasts were terrible runners.

"Come here boy!" She called out. Tusker roared out in pain and chased after her. His huge mass knocked over anybody who was unfortunate enough to be standing in his path. Long beads of drool hung from his mouth, his eyes locked on Alana. His predatory instincts on high, overriding everything else remotely intelligent.

Sanser saw the oncoming giant and hid behind the open door. Tusker squeezed himself through the small opening, only to find himself in a very bright room. The door slammed shut behind him. His red eyes involuntarily squeezed tightly. He shrieked, covering his face up from the evil light. Alana stood only a few feet away, knowing it would blind him. She called out to him by his name. He snorted and for a few seconds uncovered his face. All he could see was white, but a lingering shadow stood close by. It formed the shape of a human. He ambled towards her, arms outstretched.

She disappeared into yet another section up inside of a medium-sized craft. The light here ebbed off, easing his eyes. He veered sideways, hitting the door. The burn spots in his foggy eyes confused him.

"In here Bigfoot." She yelled, poking her head out. Tusker felt his energy suddenly leave him as he came in after her. His feet dragged behind him and he collapsed to the floor. Alana tripped over her own shoe and fell to her knees.

"That-was-very-fucking-close." Aura let her breathe come more easily. Billie's arms were full of goosebumps and pricked hair.

"I gave him just enough to get him here. We don't want a spazzed out man-killer in here do we?" Alana smiled, setting the time craft in full gear. "Settle down because I know this will be one hell of a ride."

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Tusker squealed loudly as he arose from his deep sleep. His claws grated the cold, metal floor beneath him.

"Don't fret now." He heard her sweet voice. "I'm here now."

The giant lolled out his tongue and moaned loudly. With a shaky posture he lifted himself up on unsteady legs. Alana walked out into the opening. He blinked hard, staring out at her as she disappeared. Fear overcame him and he shuffled out after her.

"Well hello sleepy head." She bent over and brushed her fingers through his damp hair.

"Yeah hello stupid head." Aura grumbled. Billie was browsing in a nearby berry bush.

"W-w-w-where? A-are we? Smells w-weird." He muttered, rolling over on the grass.

"Back home where we should be. Your trainer brought us back to our own appropriate time. We can go home now!" She clapped her hands.

"If we can even find home. I don't recognize any of these land marks. Nor do I smell our colony. I smell a colony." Billie sighed, wiping juice from his mouth.

"A colony?"

"This is another colony's territory. They will find us very soon I'm sure. It is night now." He turned towards Tusker. "We may be safe but I doubt she will."

Tusker tilted his head towards Alana. He didn't understand what Billie meant. Why should she be in danger?

"I don't understand. Alana is fine with us. No Morlock will hurt her."

"Oh I don't know about that. This isn't your preschool for monsters. This is real life. She's a strange creature in these lands." Billie answered.

"What if she smells like us? She does have a nice smell to her." Tusker smiled.

"Sure to a human she's smelling rank but to a Morlock she's a standing target. Hell she smells like a turned on female. Don't you know anything?" Billie grew short tempered with these stupid giant. He veered off towards the direction where the scent of the colony grew faint. Predicting that it meant they were going in the right direction.

Alana followed after them. She knew to them she was just a blind and useless individual. No night vision and lack of a well-developed olfactory made her the easiest target of the bunch. Tusker took his place beside her, standing upright.

"I say we settle down for the night. My legs need a rest." Alana said.

Billie began to speak to her but realized she could not understand. He turned towards his mate and stripped her of the translating collar to place on himself.

"We-can't-travel-in-daytime-like-you-can." He answered for her.

"How are you three going to find shelter from the sun? You will need to find a cave."

"There-should-be-plenty."

As they walked on Alana swore something was following them. She could feel eyes staring down the back of her neck, sizing her up. "Somebody is following us."

"He's-been-following-us-for-half-an-hour." Billie looked back towards the deep blackness of the forest. Whoever followed was wise enough to keep his glowing eyes from sight.

"And they called us devolved." Aura mocked her weaknesses. Billie was about to answer her with agreement when he remembered the collar. He simply nodded.

Indeed Alana's feelings were truthful. A male Morlock had been trailing behind them for some time now. He had seen the small machine float around in the sky before landing. He marveled at it, not understanding the design or the built. Four creatures exited it. Three were of his own kind but that one creature. She didn't smell Morlock but carried another delightful scent all over her.

Oh and that huge beast as well! He had never seen a Morlock grow so big. To keep a wide berth would be wise.

Eventually everybody greed to stop and have a long rest. There was no rush as it would take planning to find out where they were to be exact. Alana dropped her bag on the ground and used it as a pillow. Tusker was standing straight up, nearly on his tippy toes. Mimicking the pose of a meerkat, he kept an eye out for the inevitable. Billie didn't complain. The giant likely had a better chance of spotting something than he did.


	11. Chapter 11 Morlock Kiss

**Chapter 11. Morlock Kiss

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**

Tusker started up a huge fuss about missing his mossy bedding back home. He dropped to the ground and nestled his face into Alana's lap. Aura hissed at him, baring her claws.

"You need to grow up and quit being such a pussy all the time! Jeez I'm ashamed to share the same blood with you."

"You are his sister?" Billie mused. This fact he had never heard of before. Alana caught the translated words and leaned in to listen.

"Of course I am. Oh I guess I forgot to tell you? I thought I did. You probably weren't listening." Aura glared at her childish sibling. "He's my older brother."

"Well I can see the truth in how women are so much more mature than men." Alana included, giving the boys a taunting smile.

"I'm hungry." Tusker whimpered.

"I'm sorry but there's no food." She rubbed his face. That was the one thing she had not thought clearly about. Food for these Morlocks.

"What about your bag? What's in there?" Billie pointed at the leather pack she had over her back. Alana zipped it open and emptied the contents.

"Well there's no food." She looked over the items. Most of them were just accessories to use on the beasts. "There is some smelly shampoo and some cosmetic supplies and a flashlight. Which is very handy of course can't deal without that. Some bubblegum and ah-a bottle of Lay-R-Down. Oh dear how did that get in my bag."

Just to tease Billie she opened up the bottle and splashed some on his arms. It had an immediate effect on him and soon enough he was on borderline crazy.

"What is that delightful stuff? Oh man, oh man." Billie licked his chops ferociously and breathed in deeply.

"To lure stubborn males into places they don't like. Also to repel females." She eyed Aura growing intensively jealous over Billie's reaction.

"I think I smell much prettier than that." Aura stuck her nose up into the air. "Don't you agree Billie?"

"Oh of course my sweets." He had his nose dug furiously into his arms.

"Wipe that crap off before I punch you in the balls."

Tusker just showed them "worry wrinkles." Soon enough all three of them were flaring body hair and hooting their heads off. They were practically getting high off of the fumes from the bottle.

"You guys are crazier than monkeys on crack." Alana leaned back against a tree a little ways from them. Billie and Aura, driven by the smell, were going through another courting dance. Tusker had no idea what was going on and just danced around for the hell of it. He galloped off into the woods, grabbing tree branches as he went. Alana surely felt her night brighten up watching their antics. The air on this planet was more refreshing and cleaner in her opinion. Why man avoided this planet now any longer was over her head.

"Well while you guys are playing, I am going to catch an hour or two of sleep." She shifted over on her side and used her bag as a pillow. The two mates snuck away for a private moment. Tusker had wandered away a few yards, absorbed in the large basketball-sized cherries that were growing right above him.

After shifting around, Alana found a spot most suitable to doze. Her thoughts lingered over to her father. He was a well-respected trainer that influenced her greatly. Five years ago the faithful female Morlock that he had trained as a child attacked him. The end result had him nearly decapitated. He had died very suddenly as she had snapped his neck. After the female was shot it was later found during an autopsy that she had a brain tumor, driving her mad.

It was her motive to become a top trainer. She wanted to be somebody who everybody else would look to for questions. As a child she was not allowed to accompany her father in his works. She saw them in the movies and in the children books. Her first real glimpse of "Morlocks" was at the zoo. Genetically altered and very stupid creatures made to look like the fiery subterranean beasts. She found them very unlike the books and wondered why her father would dedicate his life to studying these. It was not until she became old enough to start her training that she was introduced to Tusker. With him she learned many aspects of their behavior and needs. The life of trainer was a difficult one and the reason why the students were weeded out so fast. Fatalities were not uncommon either.

Deep down she did not really believe she was that great. She would review Tusker and compare him to these two previously wild mates that she followed. He was stunted in mind. She felt there was some sort of training or exposure she forgot to introduce him to. This would be the next step. To bring him back to his wild state. Even she knew that it was very remote that he would ever fit in.

A hand crept over her face and onto her shoulder as she was thinking. She rolled her eyes and smiled lightly.

"Good try Tusker. You are so very scary." She reached over and grabbed his hand. Just as she did another hand grasped her face. She pulled up, trying to free herself to pop Tusker upside his big head. The hands gripped harder and yanked her back. She tried to open her mouth to scream out. Whoever this was dragged her at a past pace through the grass.

"Let go of me! Help!" She cried out to her friends. Her captor heaved her over his shoulder. Her chin hit his thick-skinned back, knocking her clear out.

"Alana!" Tusker came crashing through the area where she was last sleeping. The other two sniffed at the trodden grass. The smell of that strange Morlock was found. A few droplets of blood were found a few feet away.

"I believe he killed her." Billie frowned. "See? It's her blood. Why the hell did you leave her alone Tusker?"

"What? I-I-You too were leaving her alone! I was just dancing and-" he broke down, "Alana come back!"

"We can't do anything now that he's going to eat her." Aura said. "We should continue on and get out of here. Before they attack us."

"I don't wanna live here! I hate it here!" Tusker kicked his feet on the ground. "I want to go back home where it's safe!"

"You can't you fucking idiot!" Billie clawed him across the face. Tusker busted into tears, shielding his face. Aura decided on a softer approach for her brother.

"Look Tusker she wanted you to live here. They were going to kill you so she set you free. You were born here. She died for your freedom. You should make the most of it. It would make her so proud."

"But I don't know how to live here. Everything is so different and scary." He sobbed.

"Stick with us and we will show you the ropes. You are a big male so you will have an easier time throwing your weight around. Don't you remember anything about your past?" Aura coaxed him.

"No not really." He thought very hard. "Well then again I do remember our parents a little bit. And I remember you always pulling my arm hair."

"Yeah that's it. I don't remember that but it sounds like something I'd do." She patted him.

"She does that to me!" Billie pinched her bottom. "Along with tying knots in my hair."

"Alana would brush mine out for me." He continued to sulk. Aura discovered the woman's bag. Inside were all her items including a brush. She handed it to him. "Here take and keep it as a reminder."

Tusker took her bag and delicately placed the brush back inside. He hugged it close and breathed. "Smells just like her."

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Alana woke up with her nostrils stuffed with moss and hay. Her jaw ached something fierce. Her entire body just felt cold and violated. She rolled herself around on her belly and pulled her elbows up to support her. It was completely dark.

"Where are the trees? Stars? Tusker?" She called out weakly, her voice echoing. Right then Alana realized she was not outside. The air felt cool and stuffy. She gripped the moss bedding and sat upright. Her head was whirling. At the moment she realized her sudden chill resulted from the fact her clothes were ripped off.

A pair of glowing eyes stared down at her. She froze instantly, not blinking.

"Tusker? Is that you? What happened?"

The eyes only blinked and swayed back and forth. She was in a cave.

"Oh dear God where am I?" She felt her hair. Matting and dried blood caked on the tips of her bangs. Her hand fell down to her face, her chin was bruised.

The eyes floated across the blackness, getting closer. The beast's feet paddling across the floor. She shrunk down as the eyes hovered above her.

"Tusker this is not a game anymore. Don't be naughty!" She told him firmly. He was so very sensitive and that was all he usually needed to stop.

The eyes lowered towards her. She reached up and felt the face. Her fingers searched for his tusks. There was only one set and one of them was broken. This was not Tusker. Quickly she withdrew her hand and leaned away.

"Billie? Is that you? Aura? I don't know your teeth too well."

The glowing eyes only blinked. She huddled against the rocky wall, grabbing for some of the moss bedding to cover herself.

Perhaps the monster was saving her as a snack. Maybe she was too delirious to notice that maybe she was already half-eaten? At that thought she frantically felt every contour of her figure. No there was no missing parts, no gashes and no innards dangling out. However she felt oddly sore down below. Of all things besides her chin. She touched herself, trying to figure out the exact reason why.

The smell all over her and the shed long hairs sticking to her body. Spit and teeth markings on her shoulder. Studying Morlocks long enough made her come to a repulsive conclusion.

"You disgusting animal." A tiny bit of drool dropped from her cracked lips. She could hear the male's tongue slopping as he licked his chops. Avoiding the prodding eyes she searched for her clothes. Only torn bits of them could be found laying over the bumpy floor.

She felt a cool draft coming from one side. With tiny steps she crept to towards the cool air flowing towards her. There was no wall in front of her when she waved her hand out. She leaned over carefully, trying to feel for the ground. When she had reached out with the entire length of her arm she knew too well the cave was probably way off ground. She had heard of some carving out caves thirty feet or more from the floor. It wasn't a bad idea for a nocturnal climber but for her it was a dead end.

"Shit I'm trapped." She cried, waving her hands around. Did all her work come to an end? She glared back at the glowing eyes and clenched her fists. "I've dedicated my life to studying and protecting your kind! And this is what I get? To be raped and killed as an ordinary meal?! Will I end up like my father? What is the point of it? You are all dumb animals! You are not smart! You seem like it but in the end you are just as savage only uglier!"

The eyes tilted sideways. There was a long groan from the male. It sounded uncaring and drawling.

"Eat me now then! Do at least one kind thing if that even exists in your brain."

The Morlock did nothing. She watched the eyes make a circle as the male rolled on his backside. Their eyes were not like any other creature's. Unlike other creatures that eyes reflected only when light hit them the Morlocks always glowed in the darkness and seemed to loose this effect when light hit them. Like some opposite reaction.

She collapsed back on the bedding and sobbed for a few minutes. "Bring yourself together now Alana. Your father raised you to be the best trainer there is. Now think like one of these beasts just like he always said to. Think nasty! Think over the most worst things that can happen! If these smelly beasts can then I can."

She recollected her knowledge on the subterranean beasts and took time to brood. Crying would get no where in this place. The male was either too tired to feast or was teasing her.

"No you wouldn't kill me." She came upon a realization. "You ugly beasts mate for life and never harm each other. You damned old sod. You just spoiled your own meal. Either that or you are very confused. Either way you are stuck with me and I will make you miserable."

The male responded with a sheer screech and dropped down from wherever he was sitting on. Alana dropped on her hands and knees. The male had disappeared into the opening in the wall. She looked over the edge, hearing the rocks crumble as he speeded down vertically. She was now alone. Had she angered him?

While the male was gone she took her time following the wall, feeling how big the cave was. It was a nice sized room big enough to house a family of them. Morlocks. She had thought she had known everything about them. Now here she sat stumped. The only wild adult beasts she had met were Aura and Billie. Though by the time she had actually met them they were already domesticated. This broken-fang male was completely wild and his behavior alien to her. She could always test him. Either way it did not matter to her anymore if he decided to kill her. This seemed a worse fate than death.

Only an hour later the male reappeared. She looked down the hole and watched his eyes run up the side of the wall. She fell out of the way just as he charged in. The heavy smell of fresh blood sweetened the air. He had a kill.

There was a crunchy thud and the gushy sound of intestines being ripped out. The male was feasting now. She was right and felt somewhat relieved that he didn't view her as food.

"No kiss of the Morlock for me I suppose." She crossed her legs, listening to the tendons and little bones snap. After his dinner the male approached the strange creature he had claimed. Alana tensed up and held her breath when he breathed harshly in her face. His breath reeked of rotten flesh and sauerkraut.

"I didn't mean that literally." She wished for the mints made specifically for their breed. He could use about ten at least at once.

The male pressed his nose against her cheek. The fresh blood on his face smeared across hers. She pushed away and felt for a fragment of her clothing. Finding a piece of her shirt she wiped his face clean. The male made a few questionable grunts.

"Your stench makes me gag." She tossed the rag aside. The male's hair was not any better. It greasy and stringy with knots. His bold scent grew ever stronger. Body odor mingling with dried blood made for a deadly cologne.

To appease her studious side, she took to observing the male as a trainer would to newcomers. Now that she knew he would not harm her she could study him closely. With only her hands she felt for scars. He carried the details of old and new ones all over him, especially his shoulders. Patches of hair was missing and replaced with old gashes. She recalled his broken tusk. Figuring he was a well-aged male for so much abusive graffiti all over his body.

Reluctantly she reached into his mouth. She was surprised to find he still had three top molars left, one was very loose. She wiggled it back and forth until it pried loose. The male didn't protest so she figured the nerve endings were dead. Wiping the slimy spit from her hands she rolled the molar around in her palm.

"Well you are still very young. I guess no older than Tusker." She knew better than to smell her hands. The male tilted his head and snorted.

She placed the tooth on a nearby rock and settled back on the moss.

"I've managed to teach Tusker five hundred English words. Though he rarely speaks. I am going to try and teach you. I know you can see me. I might as well get to know you disgusting beast."

As a first lesson she started with her name. She pointed at her chest and announced in a clear voice. "Alana."

The male only blinked. She did it a few more times. The male seemed to catch on and then pointed to himself. If what he spouted out was his name there was no way she could pronounce it.

"I think I will just stick with Broken-Fang. I will call you that. Get used to it." She told her firmly. "Now repeat my name; Alana."

"Rrraaana." The male repeated with great difficulty. Their breed seemed incapable of pronouncing anything with "L's."

"Morlocks are today's Engrish speakers. My dad always joked about that." She tried to lighten up the situation. The male changed the subject by shoving the leftover Eloi towards her.

She shook her head, nauseated by the smell of it. It was true, one way or the other she will have to eat soon. Eating what the male gave her would be a feat to overcome. Her father once had tricked her into thinking a "lamb steak" she was eating turned out to be actually Eloi. Despite them being the Morlock's main course she still regarded them too human for her own mouth.

"No thanks. Especially since you had slobbered all over it." She made a sign for fruits instead. She rounded her fingers into a circle and pretended to be plucking them from an imaginary tree. The male shook his head.

She pointed to the hole in the wall several times. The male understood and hauled her over his backside. She hung off, grabbing onto his grimy back hair. With eyes shut tight she could feel the male climbing downwards at fast speed. Riding on top of his crouching back she rode him all the back out to the top ground. She dropped off his shoulders and kissed the grass.

For a moment she took advantage of clear area and ran off to hide in the woods. The male followed after her, calling back to her.

"Yes I am free!" She put an extra step when she saw several glowing eyes directly in front of her. A few Morlocks were surrounding a dozen Eloi to pick and choose when she disrupted them.

"Oh look what we have here? Do we have Eloi in extra-large sizes? One Morlock groaned.

"I don't know but she's a meal for two instead of one!"

"We don't even have to rip her clothes off. Dinner on the go." The Morlocks started to gain around her.

The male shoved himself between them. Alana couldn't budge, her eyes locked on them all.

"Don't even think about it." The male growled at them.

"Piss off Crog. I figured she'd have you on her tail."

"Claimed her? Oh Crog you sick freak. I knew you would."

The male looked down at his feet and back at Alana. "I will keep a watch on her. She's mine! I claimed her and now she belongs to me. Harm her and you will feel my claws in your eye sockets."

"Look Crog she not one of us. Can't you see that? She's not even really an Eloi. I don't know what she is really. What will your father think? He was looking forward to see you pick a suitable female after you had won a cave. And a very good cave at that!" One male disputed.

"Well she smells very good. You are supposed to choose a female with the best scent. She has the best I've smelled so far. I don't care if she looks different."

"We'll see what your father says about this." The others left with chosen Eloi to feast.

"Damn you all." Crog muttered beneath his breath. He turned to Alana, whom was standing at a nearby tree picking at fruit. He went over and yanked her back by the arm.

"Fruits. I see." He hoisted her back over him and went underground. Alana clutched onto a football-sized raspberry for later. From around his waist he had remembered the secured strip of clothing he had gotten for her.

He tossed it to her. It landed across her face. The female flounced around, pulling it from her face. There was one characteristic he noticed about her. She seemed to have a hard time moving around in dark. She would move slowly with hands grasping everything. Her eyes didn't glow. Maybe she was blinded? Or a better theory would be she was like the Eloi. Who couldn't see in the dark.

"You must be some type of smart Eloi. But you don't smell like one at all. You smell wonderful." He watched her struggle with the fabric strip. He got up and yanked her towards him to show her how it was properly done.

The clothing smelled funky but was surprisingly soft. How the Morlocks wove it was beyond her. They didn't seem like the type to sit down and crochet. The silky fabric supplied her scrawny figure with some type of warmth.

"Thanks I guess." She tucked her feet under it. "Though I would have figured it out for myself." Now only she needed a top to cover her chest. Neither sex down below wore any tops. She would have to find more of this fabric and fashion one herself.


	12. Chapter 12 Crog

**Chapter 12. Crog

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**

"I honestly can't believe my son would stoop to being that low." An angry male Morlock circled back and forth in his home. His mate was tending to her newest child, a three-week old baby girl.

"Well you knew he was always a tad different. I think he'll be okay."

"No son of mine is going to mate with some creature like that. I've heard it. She's neither Morlock nor Eloi. Actually she looks more like an Eloi than us only as big." He snorted.

"Well maybe she's one of those creatures we have heard about spread from the other colonies. What is it called again?"

"Oh that Time Traveler. They called him that." He answered, pacing even faster.

"Yes that's it. They say he came out of no where on this machine and claimed to be that. I don't understand it anyways. It's been long ago."

"And you know what he did to those nearby colonies he came to? Burned and blew them all up! Almost every damned one of our kind including the poor children were slaughtered alive. What if this creature is a time traveler? What if she's planning to blow us up?"

"You know I always thought about what they are really. You remember the teachings of our past. The stories of the slaves back in the beginning of the split?"

"Yes I do." The male nodded. "They turned us into this."

"I always thought perhaps these are Elites coming to take revenge on what we are doing to their future progeny." The female concluded.

"You are crazy. That baby's sucking the sanity out of you." He turned off and peered out the entrance.

"Well I doubt she's here to blow anything up. She did mate with our son remember? She must like our kind."

"Bah! I doubt it. We've had these random creatures before and none of them have ever wanted to stay with us. They only scorn and gaze upon us in disgust! Just like that Time Traveler."

"There's always an exception." The female raised a finger and smiled.

"You are just way too optimistic." He glared back.

"Maybe whatever machine that female came in on is still out there?"

The male stopped and tapped his chin for a moment. "Yes! Yes! Then we can see how they made them and maybe we can see how he travels about."

"Probably a good idea to stick to our time dear."

"Whatever female." He went out the opening. "I'll be right back. I'm going to see our son."

"No killing his mate now. I don't want our son hating us." She wagged her finger at him.

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Alana could not sleep at all in her new surroundings. As hard as she might the thoughts of some stray Morlock gorging down on her innards kept her eyes wide open. The male shuffled about the cave, probably cleaning up. Alana kept her fruit close by her.

Sensing her discomfort to the cool air, the male nestled close to her. Alana withdrew and sat up. She dug her feet under his belly instead. He was very warm to the touch. If he wasn't so filthy she might just relent and allow herself to snuggle. Earlier on outside she had found a stream surrounded by fruiting trees, obviously used by their Eloi stock. She had learned from some books about them that certain fruits were used to wash grease from hair. She would try and lure him the next time around. That is if she even knew what time it was.

She recalled having a few things in her pocket. Maybe it was still strewn around with the rest of her pants. She followed the floor with her hands, feeling every crevice and corner for any objects. Finally she found what was left of her chapstick, a liquid gum container…

"Yes!" She cried for joy, finding her dark light square. It was small but provided adequate light for her. It was regularly used around Morlocks. It provided the humans the ability to see around them and it didn't harm the Morlock's eyes. She prayed it still worked if he didn't step on it already.

The male stiffened up and drew a loud breath. She could hear something else climbing up the side towards the entrance. Another pair of eyes appeared from the bottom. The male got up on his feet and stood protectively.

"I knew you'd come sooner or later." Crog said.

"Of course. I heard you finally paired." The male looked over his son's shoulder. The others were not lying. On his mossy bed was one of those lanky creatures with no glowing eyes.

"I know what you are going to say but I do not care. She is mine and it's nobody else's business." The male waved him off and turned back towards Alana.

"I always knew you were different but really. Look at her." He settled his eyes on awkward female. "She can't see in the dark. She can't climb I suppose since they said you carried her up here. I bet she tastes no different than Eloi."

"Why should you care? She is not living with you. You do not have to carry her burden. Only me and I'm content with it."

"Fine then. But you'll grow tired of her. I doubt she'll survive bearing any children as scrawny as she is. I wouldn't even want to see what oddity she'd bear." The father blew a loud snort at her and left them.

"Typical. Dumb assholes have to tell on me. Now it will spread everywhere and I bet they'll try and kill you." The male rested at the entrance, dangling an arm out.

Alana shook the tiny square till the dark light started to glow. It's intensity increased, filling the cave. She felt a huge flow of relief now that she could see again. The male didn't notice yet. She saw him looking over the edge.

The cave was a big size and not too shabby. There was a few bones and the leftovers of his dinner below the ledge he slept on earlier. Crog turned around, seeing the square he stood frozen. Alana smiled and kept it close between her legs.

"Now I can see my scamp's face." She waved at him. The male kept a distance, waving his head around and stretching it forth. He was largely suspicious of that object. The light didn't hurt his eyes. It was amazing!

When his mate laughed at him he dug up the courage to come closer. He could not appear weak in any instance to her.

Alana took to memory his appearance. Probably the first thing she gazed upon was his eyes. They had some defiant and sly appearance to them. He could probably win a confrontation just by giving his angry stare. He didn't look very frightening otherwise. His face stood out round and neatly formed. The snub nose he sported added to his character.

Overall he looked typical of his species. Broad and bow-legged. Probably could use to loose a few pounds. He was covered in scars like she predicted. Probably got cornered many times for a higher spot in the pecking order. His shoulders were eaten up with injuries. They were usually the main spot to snag onto during a fight. Over the millennia's the skin on their shoulders and backs grew thick and desensitized. To whip one across the backside was rather useless as they barely felt it as unscrupulous trainers found out.

To tidy up the place she gathered up the putrid bones and tossed them out the hole. The male leaned back and watched. He chattered to her, scratching his stomach.

While cleaning she noticed something else. On the walls were strange writings and pictures. The letters were mostly of the English alphabet save a few. Only some of the words she could recognize. The rest was slang. Probably a later form of the English language. Since Morlocks didn't write this was most likely written by the workers. Such an underground place like this must be one of the oldest. The caverns were probably huge, stretching for probably hundreds of miles. Some of the writings were worn away. The pictures were obviously drawn much later as many of them didn't look very human in terms. All of the pictures were very old. She wondered why they didn't draw anymore.

She pointed the pictures out to him. The male simply nodded. She saw pictures of the sun and the moon. Both with people under them. The sun sported the beautiful Elites and the other hideous creatures. Both reaching up towards the sky.

She scanned the area for any chances of left over drawing equipment. She turned to the left over Eloi. The puddle of cold blood was the only available source to draw with.

With her fingers she started drawing an ugly beast on the wall. The male watched with interest. The results was less than satisfactory but it would have to do.

"See that? It's you. I think I improved you really." She wiped her fingers clean. Crog got up and squeezed a puddle of blood into his hand from one of the leftover arms. His pictures reminded her of what she used to draw in elementary school. His artistic skills clearly lacking.

He mimicked her drawing, adding a gaping mouth and dripping hair. He turned to her and thumped his chest. "Arrmph!"

"Armph?" She repeated, trying to copy his same gruff tone. The male nodded and pointed at himself again.

"Well I don't know what you just said but either it stands for "me" or for "Morlock."

The male shook his head and thumped his chest. "Arrmph Morwrock."

His language was more clear now then the frequent groans and growls. He was saying it more slowly for her so she could recognize it.

"Oh I see. Me Morlock. My dad couldn't find the reason why the sunshine people called you that. I guess you guys made that word up. And probably why the Eloi still call you that." She nodded. The connection was slow but at least they were catching on to each other. She thumped her chest and repeated his words. "Arph Murrworock."

The male shook his head. He pointed at her and referred to her as another word she couldn't distinguish.

"Egrrrong." He said, jabbing a finger in her direction.

"Eerronrg." She tried. Her voice lacked the right vocal cords but he could understand her. "I probably sound like a retarded Morlock to you."

The male turned back to his drawing and chuckled. Their laughs sounded very human if not also close to a pig's squealing.

"Well since I am learning some of your words you should say some of mine." She walked up next to him and dabbed her finger in the blood cupped in his hand. She drew a cherry with leaves sticking out of it. "What do you call that?" She tapped her finger on it.

"Rrreeaaak." He said long and slow.

"In your eyes I guess that fits." She tapped it again and said. "Fruit."

The male struggled to say it. His "F's" also lacked.

"Well I'll just stick with your word then." She turned her attention to the opening as he did. Three pairs of eyes stared back at them. They entered with non-challenging poses and loud grunts. Clearly these were his friends.

"What are you doing Crog? Crazy." The two males and one female sat themselves on the floor. Alana grabbed her glowing square and kept it close, lest one of them steals it.

"Oh just painting pictures on the wall with my mate. So what are you guys up to?" He noted the new female. "I see Bam has a mate now as well."

"Yep. Nabbed her up this morning. Took her to my cave and showed her the accessories." The friend gave his mate a lick.

"So we all heard about your new strange partner. Had to see her. Bet your dad gave you a hard time." The other male called Nib went on.

"Yeah of course. I like her though she's different. She started drawing pictures on the wall and I copied her."

"I only noticed children do that. We have more important things to do like work and more work-"

"And hopping on the moss bed-"

"And hopping on the Eloi-"

"Till its back breaks-"

"And then you howl that sweet break up song-"

"While you munch on their-"

"Okay guys that's enough." Crog chuckled. "Well we are learning each other's languages."

"She doesn't speak yours? Oh man I hope that boundary between you guys doesn't get you two all rusty." Nib smiled. "What is she? Some type of Eloi?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. She's way too smart for one. Plus I saw her following other Morlocks. There was this one that was huge!" Crog stood up and spread out his arms. "His head alone was bigger than three of ours put together."

"Oh damn I feel for any girl that gets to know him." Bam laughed.

"Bam you sick freak. But he was really tall. He stood as tall as a tree. The other ones were normal looking. But this one. Her name is Raana, she smells very nice."

Crog went over to Alana, who hid herself behind the ledge and showed her to the others. Alana stared back at them all, her legs shaking. Crog held her close and wrapped his arms around her.

"She's very tame. Does she bite you at all?" Nib picked over Crog's meal.

"No she hasn't. I guess she's not very mouthy like we are. She doesn't seem to like to cuddle either."

"Where is all her hair? She's almost bare." His friend asked again.

"Was wondering the same too." The other one asked.

"I guess her kind just don't have any." Crog plucked at her arms.

"I bet she's cold. Look at her shivering. Having no fat and no hair will do that to you I guess."

"She's probably used to living outdoors in the sunlight." Crog thought out loud.

"You should take her to see what's-her-name." Nib rubbed his chin.

"That old male stupid. Not her." Bam snorted at him.

"Oh Shuk? I haven't thought about him lately. He knows much about our history. You know some Morlocks like to keep tabs on our past."

"Well it's important. Nobody here wants to be a slave again."

"We already still are in a way to our livestock." The female finally piped up.

"Nah we just help their lazy asses. Okay well I'm going to see old Shuk and see if he knows anything about her breed. He's been to other places before and probably will recognize her. For all we know she could be some type of Morlock." Crog clapped his hands. "Then he can tell me what she needs."

"I say that's the way to go." The Morlocks started to leave. Alana stood back until the broken-toothed male hoisted her over his shoulder. She held on tightly to her dark light. The way down was farther then she had hoped for.

The male placed her down on the cold floor and crouched over to offer her a ride. She sat up on his shoulders, latching her arms around the top of his head. She couldn't keep her eyes off of her surroundings. The other residents all glared back at her. Some were disturbed by the light she was carrying and ducked back in their holes.

"This is amazing." She breathed. As he walked on the beating sound of machinery augmented. The caverns were huge. The light itself stretched out as far as it could. The ceiling above her was too high too be seen except a few enormous stalactites and columns. The place was very clean to her surprise. The smell on the other hand was even worse then in his cave. Crog would growl at Morlocks that ventured too close. Alana feared one of them might just yank her off. Some came close enough to smell of her. Crog met their face with a deafening roar to set them back.

She was sure they walked at least a mile. To where she was not very sure. They entered a much smaller section of tunnels. Small caves carved into the walls on either side. Some of the residents had their heads resting on the outside ledge, watching passerby's. A few children scampered past them, not noticing her at all.

Crog entered a small cave. Inside an old male was snoozing on his belly. His snoring was horrendous. It was surprising to her that his mate was even asleep.

"Hey Shuk wake up." Crog nudged him with his foot. The old male shot awake, waving his arms in a circle.

"You woke me up at a good moment." The male grumbled, pulling himself up. His mate was still snoring.

"I came to have you see her." Crog pointed to Alana.

"Oh well. I have never seen such-no I have." Shuk wiped his nose on his kilt.

"There are more like her?"

"She reminds me of the Time Traveler that I had a chance to see so many years ago. The killer of many colonies." Shuk stared at her little glowing square. "One man."

"Do you think she's dangerous. She's pretty gentle." He patted her stringy hair.

"Well she does look like him. And how she popped in here out of nowhere I guess she came from the same place he did."

"She has no flames on her. I checked." Crog smiled, bringing her close. His mate's fear was wafting into the room.

"I believe that these must be the Elites. Maybe taking revenge on us I suppose." Shuk added, waving his hand in front of his face.

"How? You say they are long dead."

"No these are what's left of them. The livestock we raise to feed ourselves. We learn from their example. We always work and never let our intelligence get the better of us. The Elites never learned this. They grew great in their technology and became lazy under our grasp. She is smart," he pointed to Alana, "but I bet she is very lazy. Doesn't look like the type that would work hard everyday."

"She has the most delightful scent on her does she not?" Crog pushed her forward.

"She's afraid of me." Shuk said, eyeing her resentful reaction. "I don't blame her. We must seem like ferocious beasts to her. Well that will have to change now that she's paired."

"I will take good care of her. She will grow to love me I hope." He rested his chin on top of her head.

"She will eventually. Now I want to continue my sleep." The old male rolled back over next to his female.

"Do you have those flipping pictures?"

"What? You mean books stupid boy. Yes I have them. Why?"

"She must know what they are. I want to show them to her. Might help our relationship."

"Fine. Only because of your unique mate. Don't destroy them. They are all I have of the past and they are brittle." Shuk heaved himself up once more and picked up a box from one of his natural shelves. "Make sure she knows of that as well."

"Thanks." He squatted down for Alana again and headed back home.


	13. Chapter 13 Little Stalker

**Chapter 13. Little Stalker

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The three Morlocks wandered aimlessly in any direction they held closest to their hearts. It was mainly Billie they followed. Tusker stuck close behind them with his head hung low. He was still grieving Alana's supposed death.

"I wonder if were are even on the same land as our home?" He started.

"What do you mean? Like if we were on some island?" Billie answered.

"Yeah like they say the earth is all made up of those things they call continents. What if we are on a different one?"

"Please I would rather find out myself." Billie focused on the ground before him, growing pissed off with Tusker's constant questions. The giant shut himself up and poked out his bottom lip.

"I wonder what my parents are up to." Billie wandered to himself. Maybe they were starting a new family? Maybe at home he would be having a little brother or sister soon. He had many half-siblings but no full ones. His brothers and sisters always picked on him for his blue eyes.

Another thought switched over to his mind. Where would he and his mate live? By the law of their nature it was forbidden for two to couple if they had no cave. They would surely kill him if they found out he had Aura.

The poor female would likely be avoided for some period of time before being allowed to be courted again. Again he felt he had ruined somebody else's future. He couldn't help it that she had lured him into that unbreakable love bond.

"Maybe we just shouldn't go home. It wouldn't be such a hot idea." Billie finally announced, directing it towards his mate.

"What made you think that up?" Aura threw him a hot glare.

"Because they would separate us. They wouldn't allow no pair with no cave to live with them. It's unthinkable to them."

"I'm sure we can figure something out." She waved it off. Tusker whimpered subtly, falling behind.

"You won't be saying that when they rip my throat out." He gave into a stiff gait, signaling his annoyance. Aura didn't respond, knowing it would go nowhere.

"Who's she?" Tusker finally opened his mouth. The other two Morlocks turned their heads, their noses hit upon a strong scent of a female. A few yards away hidden in the brush was a lone Morlock. She started to call out vibrantly.

"Let's just keep walking. She can follow if she wants." Billie turned on and ignored her. The female didn't waste any time on waiting for them to invite her over. She sauntered towards the small group and strutted casually around the halfling.

Aura shouldered her away, feeling the female didn't realize Billie was a coupled male. The female only circled around and followed them a few feet. Tusker was totally ignored and again fell in place as the third wheel of the bunch.

The stranger went on with her shrieking. They were love calls. Again she came at Billie and this time nipped at him. Aura threw herself onto her with an even fiercer warning. "Piss off you bitch! He's mine!"

The stranger didn't answer. Her approach was as odd as her sudden appearance. To the instinctual law of their kind it was taboo for a pair to flirt with others they did not couple with. Billie didn't fight with the female or push her away. Simply he ignored her. Aura couldn't do such a thing. The female's pressures was more than she could handle with. Evidently they all came to the conclusion that this was a very young female who didn't quite grasp the rules of the game. Her inexperience led her down trails she did not understand and blinded her.

She kept a safe distance from Aura until Billie stopped to itch his arm. Here was a whole new reason to bug them. Again the female threw herself onto Billie and tried the courting dance. Aura grabbled at her, throwing her against the ground for a tussle. The two males didn't interfere. It was rare for two females to actually fight over a male.

It wasn't until the fighting seemed to get brutal with bloodshed did Billie finally step in. He bumped the female just as she had grasped Aura's neck. Aura pulled away and popped her upside the face.

"I don't want you! Leave us alone!" Billie roared at her. The female fell over backwards and started to whimper. Tusker went over and pushed her onto her stomach with his huge hand.

"Stupid female. You hurt my sister. Stay away." He attempted to sound angry but he just couldn't. Being conditioned to be the underdog to the others surrounding him played down on his part.

She stayed put as they carried on. After a hundred feet or so she felt that eerie chill of loneliness prickle her skin. She called out and ran with out-stretched hands after them. She must have been separated from her pack and got lost. It was no wonder why her original family didn't even try to find her.

Aura walked with a heavier gait, plainly pissed off. She turned her head every few minutes to make sure that damned bitch wasn't trying to close in on her own stud.

"So what's your name?" Tusker asked, hoping to make friends with this new addition.

"Pip. My mom said when I first came out that's what I said, Pip." She smiled, catching up with them. Aura rolled her eyes and giggled. She was like Tusker in many ways. They both had that childish imagination that led them astray.

"Why doesn't he want me? He has a handsome stench." Pip said more quietly. "I like his eyes."

"Because he has Aura. You can't have him. Don't you know how those things work out?" Tusker informed her.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just smelled him and thought it was marvelous. I didn't think about him having a mate. Sorry, sorry." She cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Jeez she is something else." Billie glanced at Aura. The feeling of morning was coming over them. It was time to start finding shelter. The four Morlocks started sniffing out a place underground. Pip scooted a few rocks aside from a fake pile, revealing a hole.

She stomped her foot and waved at them. "Hey look I know a hole! See? I can help!"

"Good." Billie and Aura filed in first. The air inside was stale but the room was adequate for all of them. Tusker's head almost touched the top. Pip beamed at him and waved her fingers.

"You are so big! Why are you so big? You have such lovely fangs!"

"I just am." Tusker sighed. In reality he wished he was the same size as everybody else. It was embarrassing enough to be looking over everybody's heads.

Aura nudged her mate and whispered. "We outta hook those two up and maybe they'll go away."

"I dunno. They both don't seem-well-" he lingered in thought.

"Horny enough?" Aura licked her teeth.

"I wouldn't say that about the female. It baffles me that he's not even responding to her scent. Jeez what did they do to him? I wonder if he's neutered." Billie joked half-hearted.

"Oh no I think he has them. Fucking dirty bastard bent far too over yesterday and I wish I could redo that imagery." She tossed them a dirty gaze.

"Better you than me." Billie smiled.

"Oh if we weren't mates I'd say I hated you." She sneered, grabbing a handful of his hair again.

Tusker made a queasy sound watching the two lovers licking each other. He wished he was in a separate cave or at least if this one was longer. The female was a case herself. She was staggering back and forth in a jerky motion like a hyper child for no reason. She flared up every hair on her body and shook herself like a sweaty horse after rolling in dirt.

"Quit doing that." Tusker warned her, tired of her antics.

"I can't help it! I'm so wound up tight and other things! I-oh!" She bent her head over and raked her claws through her hair. Again she repeated the previous actions over and over.

"Instead of bitching about it stupid why don't you put an end to it?" Aura scoffed at Tusker for his confused reactions.

"Well I could always yell at her."

"Or you could just give her some kisses. Like Alana would do with you eh? Kissies?" She mocked him, puckering up her lips.

"No I won't! Why would I kiss her of all things?" He directed towards Pip.

"Ah well she's single. You don't think she's cute?" Billie added.

"No I don't."

"That's so rude of you. If Billie said something like that to me I would have kicked him so hard he'd have a vagina." Aura turned her sneering face to Pip. "What are you gonna do about him saying that to you?"

"I dunno. He's so big. He would crush me." She gestured at Tusker's weight. Their eyes darted towards each other in silent laughter.

"Crush you doing what?" The giant Morlock glowered at accusingly.

Pip couldn't respond to that. She only grabbed her hair and spun it around her fingers. Billie and Aura laughed, hunching over with their arms splayed.

"Damn you are oblivious Tusker! Grow into those balls you have!" His sister shouted into his ear. He flinched and fell over backwards. A few crumbled rocks fell from the ceiling, rolling across the floor.

"Whatever. Quit teasing me." He faced away from them and curled into a ball. Pip silently snuck close beside him. He was the only one so far that was nice to her.

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Alana was wrapped in a musty blanket. It was the first time she actually fell asleep since she had gotten here. The male was watching quietly enough that she was confident in him not to disturb her. When he was sure she was in a deep sleep. He dropped down from the ledge and took over what was left of the moss bed. He watched closed eyes. Her hair clouded her face and concealed her breathing. A silent sleeper. The sacred square she had clutched in her grasp was glowing faintly.

His mate turned her head slowly, blinking heavily. She froze for an instant with her mouth open. From her point of view all she saw ugly red eyes and teeth. What a sight to wake up to. Any common person not accustomed would have let the whole colony hear about it. She was used to it thanks to Tusker. Still the view was never pleasing.

"Gruffffeerreer." The male croaked at her, pulling a box aside.

"Your breath makes my face melt. Go away." She rolled over and yanked the sheet over herself. Crog shook his head and stripped the covers off. Such delicate creatures slept too long in his opinion. For him three to four hours was enough.

He dropped his face into her neck and sniffed harshly. She pressed her fingers against his cheeks and pushed. Being a good observer he learned how much she loathed being touched by him.

Alana felt the place get warmer around her suddenly. She poked her head out from the sheet and found him hovering over her. The male reached down and gave her a hug.

"Alright I'm up damn it!" She kicked herself free and stood up. "What the hell do you want!?"

Crog rudely shoved the box forward again. She remembered yesterday the old Morlock had handed it to him. He opened it up and tossed the lid aside.

Inside were some ancient books. The soft covers were white as stone from being faded. He flipped the pages ever so delicately. The edges were flaky and greatly yellowed. Inside most of the words were faded but the images were still clear enough to view.

Telling by the contents inside she found them to be National Geographic magazines. Images of people and animals and civilizations long lost.

"I can't believe these lasted this long." She picked one up. Just by holding it she could feel how fragile it was. She could see now why he held some type of attraction to her. She looked just like the people inside the pages.

She was still a human herself. A small handful of people had managed to escape Earth in it's last death throes over Man's final fall. They had migrated to a nearby planet and had not evolved since then. Even there they held control over their technology. Seeing what happened to the Eloi's ancestors revealed the possible errors of their ways. A lot of the devices they used were similar to the ones from nearly a million years past. In a way the Morlocks had also suffered. Though they fell behind in technology she found them even smarter than past man. Their nature to control themselves was strong. She loved them for that. A useful tool would be handed to them and they only went about their original ways. Seeing that the original way was satisfying enough. Still their turn to a mainly meat diet had given them a vicious reputation. The most gentle beast had to be watched.

The Eloi themselves were sweet and very deer-like. To her they were just that, deer. Wonderful creatures but not really the brightest. She did enjoy their company when she was little. Even they had a chance to regain their former intelligence. Some of the scientists had trained a few Eloi to see how much they could learn. The smartest ones reached fourth-grade level teachings and the rest fell in line behind. The dumbest could not even get past their ten fingers. They were planning on breeding the smart ones together to see how long it would take to have Eloi working by their sides as lab assistants. They also hoped to breed some of the positive qualities of them into human genetics. Her ears and nose were poor compared to theirs. They were frail but being constantly hunted boosted some of their senses to help them think ahead.

She had heard there were claims that her own great-great-grandfather was Eloi but nobody actually knew if that was true. As diverse as the three species seemed from each other their DNA was hard to tell apart. So closely related that they debated whether or not they were separate species. Evidently Billie was a crutch to the belief that they all were not but still one could not tell. Even after so long the strands of life kept itself neatly hidden.

Evolution had become a fact rather then just a theory to many people after seeing the exhibit on their own grueling evolution into those hideous monsters and cute flower children. Still many yet found it blaspheme to call the Morlocks their cousins.

The truth of seeing how these wild monsters were keeping pieces of their past was a breaking point in her book. She had debated with her father if they were just stupid in their natural self. Who knows how many colonies have preserved anything. There must be diversity among diversity.

"It's refreshing to see these." She smiled, her eyes feeling heavy. "I didn't think to bring any with me. I had a few books on you guys. I bet you'd love to see pictures of you too."

She snuck back under her blanket to continue her sleep while the male skimmed over them again. In truth the male had poorly equipped vision to see much of anything on the pages. Colors did not mean much to him as most everything fell to grey-like shades in the dark anyways. He could see them but he did not view them in the manner humans did. The pictures were fuzzy but it was still amusing to see living things on the flat sheets. The words were just fuzzy blurs, too small for him to really focus on. He closed the books and placed them carefully back inside the box.

He hadn't noticed the girl had crawled back into bed again. Curling up next to her he kept his eye on the entrance as usual. An occasional Morlock would spy in on them, curious of this new member. A few more bolder ones sat on the edge to get a better look. Crog writhed his lips at them to come no closer.

Only one he would permit to come in and that was his mother, who decided to come see her as well. She sniffed at the dark-haired nimble female everybody was talking about. Her mate was right. She was not one of them.

"Is she able to climb any?" She asked, stroking the creature's face. Alana braced herself, not wanting to be rude. The mother smelled more pleasant. Telling by her hair she took care of herself better than her son.

"No not really. She hasn't attempted to get out either." He puffed out his chest, beaming down at her. "She's very smart though."

"Well lets hope my grandchildren from her can climb. It would be helpful." She smiled. Her baby poking it's head over the ruffled sheets. It squeaked at Alana, curling it's tiny fingers around the mother's.

"Aww she or he's very cute." Alana cooed. Morlocks always seemed to be when they are tiny with their fluffy hair.

Crog could distinguish his mate's pleasing tone towards the infant. He nudged her forward to have a closer look. Alana almost jumped back. There was no telling how protective this mother was. Back at the lab the mothers would charge if their infant was approached too closely. The mother didn't react in any negative way. She only clucked at her baby and sat it up on her lap.

The pudgy baby fell asleep against the mother's warmth, making snuffling noises. Clearly the wee Mor-baby did not mind the intrusion of her new "sister-in-law."

"She likes little Lini." Crog watched them. "I feel she would be a fine mother then don't you think?"

"Curiosity and being loveable are two good signs. I think she will. I would have thought she'd be indifferent towards her since it's not her kind but I am wrong." The mother picked her baby up and settled her down in Alana's lap. Lini grabbed her teeny toes and started sucking on her thumb.

Alana felt that her heart had melted when the baby started purring. With any easy hand she stroked it's head. The baby yawned, showing off her toothless mouth.

"She acts like she's her mother." Crog felt more at ease knowing she was fond of their offspring.

"Lini likes anybody who's quiet." Her mother smiled, picking her back up. Her toes spread out as she felt for her mother's breast. "Well I best be going before your father grows anxious."

Crog watched her leave. Alana looked down over the ledge. She felt a jealous ping as the mother glided down effortlessly with a baby in tow. She would have to teach herself.

She felt his hand rest on her back. His claws curling inward to cup her shoulder. For the moment she felt deathly homesick. Her memories of her father making it worse. "Oh dad if only you knew where I was. If you were only alive. You told me this was the life you wanted to experience if reincarnation ever really did happen. No you don't want to. It's not that grand."

She turned her head back at Crog. How anybody could be comfortable here was unbelievable. If her father wanted to reborn into some greasy, tangled-hair and scarred up monster then she did not know him.

The male kept chewing, usually a sign of irritation in the mouth in her opinion. She prodded his mouth open. His breath hit her face like a hot fog but she was prepared. With a tight-lipped face of concern she searched around for whatever foreign object in his mouth.

"Bingo." She dislodged a bone splinter from between his canines. Warm slime oozed down in between her fingers. She tossed the splinter aside and wiped her hands clean on his clothing.

The male returned his thanks with a thoughtful nip on her neck. She turned her face away. Her fingers caught in his matted hair. It reminded her that she was due for a bath herself. She felt her own hair. It was filthy and stringy. She felt a cold shiver down her back from it all. Praying she hoped there weren't many parasites dwelling here.

Crog rolled over on his back, happy the splinter wasn't making his mouth bleed any longer. He invited her with his arms paddling in the air. She ignored him, pinning herself against the wall. Her mind fell over to the future as if she would remain here for the rest of her life. Would she be some old woman clambering around in the shadows with the conditioned mind of the beasts or would she be back home safe. As of now she was very doubtful. Getting out of this place was hardly a choice.


	14. Chapter 14 Morlock King

Hey guys!Graduated from bootcamp about a month ago and i'm trying to get back in the swing of things with my stories. i'm also creating a new one just for the boredom hahah so stay tuned! :D

**Chapter 14. Morlock-King  
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A few months had past since their landing back on earth. The four Morlocks had ventured far from the time machine that Alana had brought them in. In the last month or so they had given up all hope on finding home again. Maybe Tusker was right and they did land on some other "big island." Their legs had developed sores. Their spirits an all time low.

"I say we just live together as a colony and find a permanent cave to live in. I'm tire of this fruitless travel. I think my legs will snap." Aura complained, dropping her arms lower to the ground.

"I just wish I could see my mother again." Billie answered bitterly, inwardly agreeing with her.

Pip and Tusker haven't developed into any relationships. Rather they became friends but nothing close. The giant had became withdrawn a month after he had lost Alana. Just recently was he started to re-adjust. He wouldn't admit that Pip helped keep the smile on his face during his depressions.

"Well that proves it." Billie nodded finally. "Lets settle down for a new home. I don't smell any Morlocks but I did see a few wild Eloi running off in that direction."

"Yes we need to stay where the Eloi are. Don't want to be eating nasty fruits."

"I think those tiny hairy berries are nice. They're all fuzzy in your mouth when you chew on them." Pip hopped around them. The others had grown tolerable of her silly antics. A few times Aura made it out to punish her but it never seemed to work. Pip would only fall over and start crying. Billie didn't bother to deal with the child. Tusker would kick dirt at her. Their pecking order sorted out with her at the very bottom. Tusker was dominate over her, then Aura and Billie was at the top as the Alpha. He had grown out of the tantrums he would throw to pity himself in the earlier days. The pack followed the trail of the Eloi, hoping to find what they could call home at last.

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If Alana could look back at herself in her bathroom mirror she would believe she was hallucinating. She had not looked at herself in the face since then. She had grown haggard, taking over several characteristics of her subterranean cousins. In some ways her spirit had all but fallen apart. In many more ways she had strengthened and molded into a different individual.

At times she would find herself uttering in half-Morlock to Crog and herself. She had given up keeping a barrier between herself and him. Crog was a young male and she found it easy to shape him into the ideal mate to deal with. She had developed several ground rules.

The first one she created was bathing. The first time took three washes to get rid of the layers of oily filth from his skin using the special fruits. Crog did not enjoy one bit of it but when she crossed the river and refused to return he came in after her. Now at least once an month he has to clean himself up.

The second was cuddling. No hard nipping and definitely no mouth licking. Nobody wants their mouth tasting like road kill after a sweet kiss.

The third was about food. She made it clear that no meat in the cave be left uneaten longer than two days. The place doesn't need to reek anymore than it does.

There were other smaller rules pertaining more private matters. In the beginning Crog argued with her but later forced himself to deal with her issues.

Something else bothered her. Something that dwelled in the back of her mind. When Crog suddenly became much more softer towards handling her she grew suspicious. She finally asked him about it upfront.

"Crog? Me? Different?" She asked the best she could in his language.

"Different? Change yes." He shrugged.

"No. Soft to me." She strained growling those last few words.

Crog though for a second. He nodded as he knew what she was coming across. She had a lot of changes to her. He leaned forward and rubbed a hand over her stomach.

"Not hungry." She sighed in frustration.

"No. Baby."

"Baby?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yes. Baby in here." He pointed at her stomach again and then to himself.

Alana felt the blood drain from her face. That couldn't happen. Not after all the changes she was going through already. How could she handle a child? She thought about little Lini, the adorable Mor-baby. Her baby would probably look like her.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. I thought she was so precious." She looked for a positive side to this. Now that he had mentioned it her stomach was larger than normal. She pressed her fingers into it, seeing if she could feel any signs of movement. There was something solid in there.

Another Morlock nearly out of breath reached over the opening. Crog nearly attacked him. It was only one of his friends, whom appeared with an urgent message.

"More like her outside! They're lurking about the openings!" He gasped, nearly falling.

"Well lets hope these don't have flames." He got up and tossed his head.

"They do actually." The Morlocks passed dark expressions of hate and Crog left with him to further investigate.

The two barely made it outside when they spotted the strange animals snooping about one of the smaller openings. They had flashing lights in their hands.

"They are a danger to us. The others say to dispatch them. We don't need a repeat of colony exterminations." The male hissed. "They are a threat to us. They say leave no one alive."

The two set to work their plan. Sneaking out another entrance to the outside they took their time stalking the creatures in the concealing grass. They were poor at speeding after prey but stealth was their true talent.

Crog was careful where to set his feet. He had no idea how well these creatures could hear. Alana's hearing wasn't the best compared to his but individuality played a role. His eyes locked on the nearest one that stood the farthest from his pack. His back was turned, perfect.

He weaved around the man's feet and stood straight up. With a snap he wrapped one hand around the creature's mouth and one about his throat. Yanking him down he crushed the windpipe. The man struggled in his arms, trying to scream. The killing was taking too long. Crog felt the others would hear his feet kicking at the grass stalks. With his other hand he pushed down on the man's skull, crushing it with his weight.

His friend replayed the same hunting tactic. One by the one the group's number shrank yet none in the front of the pack realized it yet. It wasn't until the last man at the front turned towards his comrades, noticing when he asked them something there was no reply. Not a sound of movement from them. He found himself totally alone as if his followers had disappeared in thin air.

"Hey guys! This isn't funny. Did you guys turn off somewhere?" He called out. "I'm lost out here! Hello can you hear me?!"

He heard a muscle twitch. Something only heard from an immensely powerful animal. He turned his head. There was nothing behind him. Suddenly from the other side there was a strong blow to the back of his head. His eyes rocked in their sockets and his brain seemed to shake inside his skull. He somersaulted on top of the wet grass and lay dazed.

His rifle snapped under the foot of some strange creature. He knew what it was.

The two Morlocks decided to make a game out of their last victim. There would be no one to return his calls. They stood on top of him, increasing their weight on his fragile body. He cried out, hoping at least one of his friends was still alive.

Crog bent down to face this creature. He did look like his mate. Unlike Alana this one was a male and stunk to his opinion. What if she became attracted to him if she ever chanced to cross his path? The thoughts of this made his heart spark with jealousy.

The man held his breathe, not able to suck in that godawful wind the Morlock heaved out at him. The ugly beast glared at him with big red eyes. That nasty pig-grunting he communicated. Disgraceful creatures that didn't deserve to be referred as man's future.

The beast tilted his head and opened his jaws wide. The man didn't even have a chance to scream when monster's jaws snapped shut on his face. With a crunch and twist Crog got rid of any evidence of the man's features. He chewed off the nose like a piece of rawhide and swallowed it whole.

There was one last thing he could say about this nasty group of males that dared to intrude on their homes. Their flesh was disgusting. Unlike the Eloi, who feasted on just fruits. These men obviously had meat in their diets. His kind detested the taste of another flesh-feaster's own. Not interested in further filling his stomach he went to investigating what they had in their pockets. His mate would be interested in their trinkets.

He found a few watches and wallets. These would be suitable enough for her. After he finished feeding his curiosity he made it back inside. With a quick nod to the others to prove he and his friend got rid of the threat.

Excited, he showed the odd items to his mate. She looked them over with hard eyes, especially at the pictures.

"Where find?" She asked, pointing at them.

"Outside. Intruders. Kill." He grinned, hoping for his fine gifts she'd give him something in return. He hugged his arms around her, pleased with himself.

"Killed?" She dropped the wallets on the floor. These men she knew and they were searching for her. They had found the time machine she had stolen. Now they were all dead.

"Yes. Not happy?"

"Happy? How? My friends-they-y-you kill!" She wrenched herself from his embrace and got up on her feet. Her mate was puzzled. He felt he had done something right. They were only bachelor males. In his eyes a threat to his cave and a threat to everybody else.

"They take me home!"

Crog bristled up and stood up tall. He looked down at her with prodding eyes. "No go! You are mine! They don't deserve you! They are lousy. So easy to kill. Not even feel a thing."

"Stop it!" She grabbed the wallets and threw them at him. She buried herself in the sheets, wanting to remain alone forever. Crog picked them up and tossed them out of his cave. They weren't worth keeping if they were only going to start problems.

"Confusing female that doesn't appreciate anything." He said out loud, hoping she would hear. "Upper-worlders always spoiled. Sun spoils them."

"Whatever." She threw one of the watches at him too. "You guys are just jealous you can't see the beautiful sun again. No lovely colors and no nice blue skies."

The male dwelled on these thoughts. "Shuk says at one point we tried to return to the sun after the earth became healthy again. We couldn't go above anymore. The sun shuns us for abandoning it. Now it has abandoned us. Now it only loves the Eloi. It made us jealous."

"I can see why you are jealous." She said in English. "Who the hell wants to linger down in this stuffy damp dark place. Ugh it smells and you always come home sweaty."

The male tilted his head and thumped his chest. "Talk so I can understand you. Your mutterings mean nothing to me."

"Hate down. You always nasty, sweaty." She repeated.

"I work hard. Keep place good."

"Why work? No work anymore."

"Eloi need care. Down here not much air. Want to feel even worse?" He scooted closer to the bed.

"Work all day? That? No need." She nailed him with another watch to keep his distance. The male took notice of it and studied the gears and details working the mechanical device. Immediately he went to work on taking it apart. Despite having huge hangs his fingers pried the pieces apart with great care. He became totally absorbed in the contraption and didn't talk any further.

"I see now. You work, you feel to." She took the other watch for safe keeping. "You are like the Eloi but you don't see it."

"Don't call me no Eloi. They are stupid creatures with no past and no future." Crog grumbled, not peering up from his prize.

Alana rolled over, rubbing her hands over her stomach. She thought about the baby again. Would it be a boy or a girl? She needed to start thinking of names. She decided to change the conversation and asked the male.

"We need to think of naming our baby."

"We will think of one when it is born. That's the way it is always done." He answered, studying the long, gold chain attached to the watch.

"I'm sure it will be able to go out into the sun." She looked up, blinking slowly. "Could name it something to do with the light."

Crog peered out into depth of his cave. "Yes? Yes our child could go to the sun. That would be nice. A bright name to call it."

Now that his mate mentioned it this was a wonderful idea. Perhaps now his kind can see the sun again. He watched Alana stroke her stomach fondly. Was she the key? Her kind? It was right in front of his eyes. Her kind was what they needed to take over the topside again. She was obviously intelligent like him and ate both fruits and meats. Perfect creatures to mix with.

"I should discuss this with the Cadre. They would agree." He smiled lightly.

Alana had no idea what he was talking about. She didn't care, not now that her future was taking another great turn. Crog permitted himself to lay next to her. He wanted to wrap his arms around his hard-earned treasure but held himself back. She curled up into a ball in the sheets, shivering like always. He knew she had thin skin and little fat.

"Tomorrow I let you into the light if you promise to come back down?" He pressed his lips against his fangs.

Alana turned her face towards him. She had no where else to go besides this place. No place to clearly run away to. She had lost any trail of the time machine.

"Really? Of course I would come back down." She felt her chest jolt with excitement.

"If not the others will come after you at dark. You must come back down after the sun starts to go away. I will be waiting. If this works out I will let you out whenever you like."

She felt much better now. With a bright smile on her face she hugged him. The male grunted pleasingly.

The next morning as he promised, he led her to a nearby opening deemed safe and let her out. His mate turned and watched his glowing eyes disappear back into the pitch-black before stepping out into the grass. It was already humid and the sun wasn't even over the mountains yet.

She took care not to walk on any spiky weeds and rotten fruit that littered around the trees. It was so refreshing to be where she truly belonged again. The small Eloi huts were only a mile walk from the Morlock lair. They were so dainty. Their eyes big like a deer's. That's what they reminded her of. Little deer-people. Their long legs gave them a long stride that gave little of their position away in the rustling brush. Her musky scent confused them. She didn't look like a Morlock at all but she brought the death-smell of them with her. They backed away confused, staring hard at her with shiny, blue eyes. Somehow their eyes must be lying to them.

Eventually the Eloi found she did not attack them and grew bored. Their expressions looking sleepy and calm again. The herd went to work on the fruits easy to reach. Alana noticed some of the Eloi were showing disgusted curiosity at something laying in the tall grasses. Leftover dead Eloi perhaps.

She had wished she had not approached it. The bodies of some of the trainers and scientists lay sprawled across the three foot tall grass. The flies cleaning up the dark blood splatters around on them. On one she could not recognize his face but knew the familiar clothing. Holding her mouth, she scrambled out from the messy grave and emptied her stomach on a garden of flowers the Eloi often ate.

She wondered how they could be so stupid to approach the lair like this. They all had many years of experience with these ugly brutes that they could not just all be massacred like this. Then again they all worked with domesticated pets instead of the wild ones. She found them immensely different. The trained ones back at home were used to being coddled and scolded into submission. Becoming a well-experienced trainer she found herself fighting the dominate spot with her so called "mate." Everyday she attempted to over throw him and make the male do what she wanted. Crog came back at her with his own motives that confused her. In general he knew he was much stronger. To stand there and let her beat on his chest didn't impress him one bit. She was giving in and prepared to just let him do whatever he wanted to do with her.

An idea came to her head. The female Morlocks. She never had the chance to study their ways of dealing with mates. The only one she had met was Crog's mother. Even then she noticed she submitted to her bad-tempered husband.

She garnered over these new thoughts as she stalked the Eloi. The babies scattered around her feet and hugged onto their mother's legs. As the sun came up beyond the trees she took to the shade. The other Eloi were taking turns under the trees and in the drinking pools close by. Some of the children snuck flowers into her hair as she rested on a bed of dried grass.

Her thoughts drifted over randomly to Tusker and the two other Morlocks. She hoped they were doing fine, especially her enormous pet. His size should be able to take care of him. She remembered when her father brought him home. He accidentally stuck his spiky claws into her face when she first held him. Over time he grew too heavy for her to carry. Pretty soon he outweighed a large pony. She missed his soft tummy as a pillow.

The sweet scent of the flowers drove the Eloi to sleep. They curled around her body like she was one of the pack. After a while she could not stand it anymore. Everything brought on bitter memories and the heat pushed her decision. She made her way back to the entrance in the earth's ground. She stepped slowly into the cool darkness. The glowing cube around her neck brightened as the place became ever darker.

She found herself desperate and soon totally lost. How stupid it was to come down here already. Down in the passageways she could hear the Morlocks bellowing. It was probably some bachelors fighting each other for higher status in the pecking order. Not a good place to venture. She turned off back the other direction. A loud shriek made her topple backwards. It was a lurking male that had been stalking behind her.

The hair on his shoulders stood on end as he swayed back in forth, challenging her.

"Leave me alone." She spoke to him, hoping he'd recognize she was female.

"Stupid weak topsider." The male continued to strut. "What makes you so special to be spared.

More bachelors caught a whiff of her and turned their attention down towards her. All of them were in the heat of the fight and blinded in their rage to kill. They swayed back and forth. She continued to back up, only to trip over a male. He was already dying, torn apart by the other males. His blood smeared across her legs as she made an effort to slide away.

The males chuckled, gleaming their red fangs at each other. They whispered to each other. It was too fast and quiet for her to pick up.

"Well we devised a plan that would please us very much." The lead male announced to her. The others crept forward eagerly with tongues hanging out. "First of all we like to have the pleasure of a female. Eloi are always nice but they keep dying before we get anything out of it. So if you are good after we rape you, we'll kill you real fast."

Alana kept climbing backwards, not caring if she even fell out into some unknown pit.

"Why don't you be a real male and find a mate like anybody with balls would do." She growled.

"Your petty insults don't move me." His dark eyes glinted. "Just lay there and we'll-"

A huge fist came from the side and pummeled the male's face. There was a loud crunching sound and a scream.

The other bachelors backed off, not willing to fight anymore. The towering figure turned out to be exactly who she wanted to see, Crog. In tears, Alana scrambled to her feet and hugged her arms around his neck.

"You should know better than to come back down here and wander. They would have done dreadful things to you." He scolded her with snarls.

Alana dug her face into his neck, attempting to hide from his ugly glares. She heard the other male whimpering on the ground. His face was swelling up. Blood oozed out from his mouth. His jaw was shattered.

"He wanted to hurt me." She wrapped her hands around his long hair. She was marveled by the power of him. One swipe and her culprit's face was smashed. Recalling the times she had smacked one of them she knew very well how bony their faces were. It was like striking a brick.

Crog feeling very proud of himself, went over to the dying male and knelt down. "You have a lot of nerve trying to harm my mate. Weak bachelor, your face was easy to break."

Alana winced when he lifted his foot and smashed it down on the male's face. There was a yelp and the sound of bones and brains being crushed. She couldn't look at the mess after he was done.

"I want to go back home. I want to go back." She felt sick now from the fresh smell.

"Okay." His nose twitched, breathing in the scent of living blood. She draped herself over his massive shoulders and hung limp. It was becoming hard to do this with her growing stomach. She shifted about as they made their way up to the cave.

"I wish I could find a cave farther down. Pretty soon I won't be able to do this with you anymore until you have the baby."

She plopped down on her bed, feeling at home again. "You could try and trade it with another male?"

"I could try but it probably won't work. Never traded a cave before. Might become wary of me. Caves are hard to earn." He grunted, wiping the blood from his arm.

"Your hand is swollen." She noted his busted knuckles. They were extremely bony but a hard punch could even break them. She grabbed his hand and pressed in the hot places. Crog made an effort not to pull away.

"You broke a finger. Be careful with it." She rubbed his thick hands, noticing some special characteristics. She enjoyed looking over Morlocks as many colonies often inbred, vestige parts would throwback in individuals. Her father had enjoyed collecting individuals with different colored eyes, some that couldn't see in the dark at all, some had extra fingers or teeth. Her mate had still some leftovers of his other two finger nubs on one hand. Their genetics seemed to go in whichever direction. Evolution and genes always absorbed her interest. It was her main reason for being interested in their species. They were so human yet so alien.

Crog on the other hand saw no big deal about it. The only sort of genetics he cared about was if his children would grow up to be as ruthless and strong as him. He shoved his face into her neck as she continued to care for his hand, hoping she was stronger than he imagined her to be.

For a moment a secret display of affection passed through the both of them. She pressed her cheek against his and patted him with her hand. Only he knew how close they were growing together.

"It's time to sleep." He folded his arms under his chest and slept on his stomach. Alana leaned her back against his side. She kept an eye on the entrance of the cave. Sometimes she had seen the staring eyes of the others. Maybe hoping to sneak in and grab her. After a good hour she felt her eyes grow heavy. Like some illusion, as soon as she had drifted to sleep she awoke again feeling very crowded.

Her eyes looked up at Crog. He was staring down at her, coming closer. She wondered why he acted this way. He knew her well enough not to sneak up like this. Her smile turned to a concerned frown when Crog's lips flashed the full length of his fangs. She saw no broken fangs that was like Crog's. This was not her mate.

She lurched backwards. Just as she did she felt a body come forward, shoving her down into the bedding. A screech echoed throughout the small cave, making her ears ring. There was not much of a fight. A shivering Crog bent down low in the bedding. Another large male stood up above him, roaring at him. Her mate's arm dangled, smashed.

This intruder was bigger and more heavily built. He wore bright red clothing and accessories around his waist rather than the dull colors the others normal wore. The way the male carried himself showed he was in a very high pecking order.

Crog snarled at the male, at the same time he showed great submission. The large male continued to stand tall and unmoved by his rival's pleads.

Alana cried out when the male heaved her over his back and carried her off. Crog answered her calls with the same sadness. She found herself moved to an even bigger cave. It was garnered with Eloi skulls dangling from the ceiling and Morlock skulls lined about the corners of the walls. Six other males stood inside, waiting expectantly. Their heads held low, peering up to him with gentle eyes. Their hands held behind their backs. They were all frightened of him.

This was unusual. Her father had always told her that in colonies the only sort of pecking order was within family members and single males. Every single Morlock that came in contact with this special one cowered before him.

The male strutted about, flaring out his mane in show. His face smug and hard. Scars decorated him all over. He was also missing one toe. He stomped his feet and roared at the others before him. She knew he was trying to show off to her, showing what power he had. Enough that he could intrude on any family and take any mate he wanted.

"See? I have claimed myself this sun-dwelling Mor-Eloi you all were talking about. I want MY children to see the ground above and take over the sunny places again. I can do this if I want. She is mine now and nobody can have her. Touch her and I will rip your throats out slowly so you can drown in your own blood." The male shouted with confidence.

The others nodded, passing each other agreeable glances.

"Yes yes only the very strong male should do this. Not some common one."

"Yes I agree almighty Lor."

"Only the mighty Lor can do this and nobody else. Everybody should agree or die." The males agreed left and right. Alana felt herself still. Something told her not to fool with this grand beast they call referred to as "Lor."

She dropped her head when the Morlock-King approached her. He sniffed the top of her head and neck. She held her breath, barely able to inhale his masculine odor. Crog's was like baby-powder compared to his.

"Look at me female." The male barked at her.

Alana lifted her eyes to his. There was nothing friendly about him at all. He was a poster-child for everything nasty in this dark world.


End file.
